Westover Capital Advisors LLC Sells 11,173 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 78.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,117 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 11,173 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,068 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. American Trust boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $7.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.18. 4,056,956 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,840,105. The stock has a market cap of $43.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $148.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.95. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. The company's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given 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, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.27.

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.