Jeffrey Campbell, a director at Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC), recently bought 6,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by over 1,000%, and came to a total cost of $897,644.
This marks the first insider buy at the company over the past two years. There have been two recent insider sales, with the largest coming from a company VP who sold 40% of his holdings. Going further back, insiders were a mix of direct sales and stock option exercise sales.
Overall, Marathon Petroleum insiders own 0.3% of shares.
The oil and gas refining and transportation giant is up about 5% over the past year, reflecting the overall weakness in the energy sector.
Operationally, weak energy prices have hit the company hard, with revenues down 15%, and earnings down by 81% over the past year. However, shares are still somewhat inexpensive at 12 times forward earnings.
Action to take: Long-term investors may like shares here, as energy prices could be poised to move higher. Plus the company’s transportation business can hold up even in a weak price environment for oil and natural gas.
At current prices, Marathon pays a 2.4% dividend, which the company has a history of increasing over time. The dividend is more than amply covered by earnings.
For traders, the April $170 calls, last trading for about $5.05, could see mid-double-digit returns from a push higher in Marathon shares in the months ahead.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.