Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 9,413 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 45.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,413 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $743,690,000 after buying an additional 107,915 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $620,815,000 after acquiring an additional 31,100 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $558,390,000 after buying an additional 8,476 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $463,160,000 after buying an additional 209,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third 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 buying an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Tudor Pickering cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.7 %

MPC opened at $158.79 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $140.98 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.14 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.