Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Reduces Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,677 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,033,000 after buying an additional 9,355 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after buying an additional 18,764 shares during the period. Holistic Planning LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth about $912,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,364,000 after acquiring an additional 68,147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of MPC stock opened at $150.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business 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 company’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MPC. Raymond James increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.20.

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.