CoreFirst Bank & Trust Sells 424 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,696 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 301.3% during the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,926 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $7,444,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $19,919,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 4.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 347,725 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $52,625,000 after buying an additional 13,858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded up $1.66 on Monday, hitting $171.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,984,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,843. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $184.47 and its 200-day moving average is $174.22. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $108.88 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $60.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.45.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 16.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.23.

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.