Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 846,308 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 10,590 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Marathon Petroleum worth $137,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $176,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.2% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,599 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,150 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 15.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 443,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $89,439,000 after purchasing an additional 60,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $155.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $160.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $140.98 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for 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 revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.