D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 2,155 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 7.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,155 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.1 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $155.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $140.98 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $158.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.95. The firm has a market cap of $49.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.84%.

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.