New England Research & Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

New England Research & Management Inc. cut its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 12.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,650 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MPC traded up $1.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $173.24. The company had a trading volume of 2,200,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,694,485. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $61.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.25. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $223.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.14.

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.