Holocene Advisors LP Trims Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Holocene Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 99.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 349,595 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $743,690,000 after acquiring an additional 107,915 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,905,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,353,000 after purchasing an additional 235,795 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $217,560,000 after purchasing an additional 415,368 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,285,248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $222,965,000 after buying an additional 72,192 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPC. Barclays reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 note on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MPC opened at $150.94 on Friday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $140.98 and a one year high of $221.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $156.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.94. The company has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.