Park Avenue Securities LLC Cuts Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,935 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 3,679 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third 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 period. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,107,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $137,945,000 after buying an additional 576,119 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $75,757,000 after buying an additional 501,441 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MPC traded up $1.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $152.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,479,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,802,449. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.31. 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 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MPC. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $181.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.