Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,547 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 18.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,984 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,027,000 after buying an additional 3,108 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,175 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 43.5% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 4,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $156.15 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $140.98 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $157.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.70. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

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

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.