Swiss National Bank Sells 21,200 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,045,766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 21,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $170,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $219,537,000. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,785,000 after acquiring an additional 621,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $107,393,000 after buying an additional 241,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.4 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $157.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.06 and a 200-day moving average of $168.26. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $140.98 and a one year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th 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 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.