Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $1.03 Million Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,313 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 17,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth about $88,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 165.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $20,983,000 after acquiring an additional 64,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 18.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,984 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MPC. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $155.33 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $140.98 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.84%.

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.