Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Sells 2,031 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lessened its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 10.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,692 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,031 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.5% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 10,259 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 294 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,731,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 333.3% in the third quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kerusso Capital Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 6.4% in the third quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,734 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 648 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 equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $153.75 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $160.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.69. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $140.98 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $49.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board 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.