Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 49,523 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 478,876 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,523 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Marathon Petroleum worth $78,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth $29,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $30,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $35,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 2.5 %

MPC stock opened at $159.11 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.87. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $140.98 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $51.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.