GoalVest Advisory LLC Boosts Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 23.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,172 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $219,537,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 621,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $107,393,000 after purchasing an additional 241,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MPC opened at $157.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.33.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. 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 note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

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.