Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $15.34 Million Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,102 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,327 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $15,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,823,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,604,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.95. The company had a trading volume of 8,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,675,937. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $57.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.28 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 16.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MPC. Bank of America lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.31.

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.