Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 139 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 233,249 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $37,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $743,690,000 after purchasing an additional 107,915 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $620,815,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $558,390,000 after purchasing an additional 8,476 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $463,160,000 after purchasing an additional 209,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $157.52 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.06 and a 200 day moving average of $168.26. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $140.98 and a 12 month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MPC. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

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.