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

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and 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 and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,984 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after buying an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 21.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in 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 acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE MPC opened at $156.15 on Monday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $140.98 and a one year high of $221.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its 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 quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.