Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Trims Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. lessened its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $743,690,000 after buying an additional 107,915 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $620,815,000 after acquiring an additional 31,100 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,390,000 after purchasing an additional 8,476 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $463,160,000 after buying an additional 209,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,241,000 after buying an additional 117,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MPC stock traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $152.40. The company had a trading volume of 52,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,659,393. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.30 and its 200 day moving average is $170.32.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.