AlphaMark Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

AlphaMark Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,375 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum comprises approximately 0.9% of AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MPC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $500,685,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,235,000 after purchasing an additional 636,281 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 309.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 643,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $95,483,000 after purchasing an additional 486,573 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,335,000 after purchasing an additional 433,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,604,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $174.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,695,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,721,203. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $112.82 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The firm has a market cap of $61.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $178.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.