Lbp Am Sa Trims Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Lbp Am Sa lessened its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 72.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 43,773 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth $220,000. Castleark Management LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 19,739 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,977,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,149 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,883,000 after buying an additional 7,244 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $1,544,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.64.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock traded down $3.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $173.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,355,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,656,656. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $133.65 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $61.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.51.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.