Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Railway Pension Investments Ltd

Railway Pension Investments Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 10,900 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $44,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $223.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.85.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 4.9 %

NYSE:MPC traded down $8.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $164.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,599,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,325,567. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $133.65 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $58.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.