Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,886 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 114,493 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $307,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 4,122 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 note on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $157.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.06 and a 200-day moving average of $168.26. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $140.98 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued 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 company had revenue of $35.37 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.