Affinity Investment Advisors LLC Sells 5,413 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 79.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,367 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,413 shares during the quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% during the second quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 4,122 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.00.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of MPC stock opened at $143.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.37. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $140.98 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31.

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

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

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.