Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by swisspartners Advisors Ltd

swisspartners Advisors Ltd trimmed its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum accounts for about 8.9% of swisspartners Advisors Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. swisspartners Advisors Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $11,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $500,685,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $131,235,000 after purchasing an additional 636,281 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 309.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 643,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,483,000 after purchasing an additional 486,573 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after acquiring an additional 433,977 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $33,604,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MPC. StockNews.com lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $164.29. 2,204,188 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,696,145. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $117.28 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 16.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.