Counterweight Ventures LLC Lowers Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Counterweight Ventures LLC decreased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 15.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,780 shares during the quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $683,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 189.2% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,311 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 6,746 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 40.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 36,299 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,314,000 after purchasing an additional 10,449 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 111.2% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,299 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 114,334 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,038,000 after purchasing an additional 7,407 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $159.50 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $159.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.10. The firm has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. 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 Co. has a one year low of $140.98 and a one year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.14 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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

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.