Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Grows Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,389 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 7,196 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $6,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 15.2% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% in the second quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 4,122 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered 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. Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.00.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $144.77 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $140.98 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.01 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.37.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 2.51%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

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.