Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,234 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.2% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 10,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 8,420 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 3,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 509,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $102,675,000 after buying an additional 8,228 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE MPC opened at $157.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. 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 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.33.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.