Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 2,836 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,571 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,836 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $177.80 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.31. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $104.32 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

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.