Ascent Group LLC Sells 567 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ascent Group LLC lessened its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,376 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 567 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MPC. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $240,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,489 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,585 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.8 %

MPC opened at $157.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $157.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for 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%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 $0.91 dividend. 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 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.