Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,770 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $743,690,000 after acquiring an additional 107,915 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,905,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $473,353,000 after purchasing an additional 235,795 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,390,000 after purchasing an additional 8,476 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third 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. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,285,248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $222,965,000 after purchasing an additional 72,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Tudor Pickering lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given 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.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $156.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $158.69 and its 200 day moving average is $167.27. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $140.98 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum Profile

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.