Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 263 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,236 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $213,605,000 after buying an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $219,537,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,785,000 after acquiring an additional 621,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $107,393,000 after purchasing an additional 241,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MPC. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $156.47 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $158.69 and its 200-day moving average is $167.27. The firm has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $140.98 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.14 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.