Narus Financial Partners LLC Sells 130 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Narus Financial Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,303 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,333 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.1% during the first quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 5,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 27.3% in the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $174.48. 1,470,382 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,710,948. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.96. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $112.82 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $61.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.