Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,616 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 246 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $743,690,000 after buying an additional 107,915 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $620,815,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,390,000 after purchasing an additional 8,476 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $463,160,000 after purchasing an additional 209,270 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $158.79 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $158.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $140.98 and a 1-year high of $221.11.

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 (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 analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.