Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 6,017 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 47.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,668 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,017 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.5% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,150 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $239,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,252 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 17.1% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.00.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.6 %

MPC opened at $152.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $140.98 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.32 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.