Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Stake Reduced by Schechter Investment Advisors LLC

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,484 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,242 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in 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 in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 647,045 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,945,000 after purchasing an additional 576,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $145.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.21. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Raymond James lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

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.