Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Stake Cut by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 968,905 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 56,256 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.27% of Marathon Petroleum worth $195,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target 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, Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MPC stock opened at $174.99 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.31. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.82 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.40.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

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.