Equitable Trust Co. Has $436,000 Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,123 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,022 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,945,000 after buying an additional 576,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.27.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $155.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.