Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 103 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Valley National Advisers Inc. reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 487 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $98,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $764,526,000 after buying an additional 137,341 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $608,581,000 after purchasing an additional 96,753 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $500,685,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,341,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $347,365,000 after purchasing an additional 178,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 969,120 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $143,779,000 after purchasing an additional 26,941 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MPC traded up $0.85 on Wednesday, reaching $174.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,344,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,708,869. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $112.82 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $177.73 and a 200-day moving average of $176.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum 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.