Quadrature Capital Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Quadrature Capital Ltd decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 88.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,063 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 112,534 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,033,000 after purchasing an additional 9,355 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the period. Holistic Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $912,000. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 353.4% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,989 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,713,000 after purchasing an additional 43,639 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,365 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,972 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $150.94 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.21 and its 200 day moving average is $166.19. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.