Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $36,823,000. Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 22.8% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 692,063 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $102,675,000 after purchasing an additional 103,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com cut Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $199.46.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE MPC opened at $166.36 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $139.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

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.