Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 67.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,086 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,299 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Sara Bay Financial raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 29.9% in the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,340 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 2,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,733 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% during the second quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 7,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% during the second quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 5,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $877,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.38.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $174.87. The stock had a trading volume of 427,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,363. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $171.36 and its 200 day moving average is $180.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $139.32 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.