Prudent Man Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 16.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,466 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,537,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,785,000 after buying an additional 621,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $107,393,000 after buying an additional 241,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $157.52 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.26. The stock has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MPC. Bank of America began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

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.