Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Sells 111 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,306 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,033,000 after acquiring an additional 9,355 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 6,315 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,279 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 478,876 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $78,014,000 after purchasing an additional 49,523 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MPC opened at $158.14 on Friday. 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 market cap of $50.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.80. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.

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.