Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 349 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,126 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 349 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.9 %

MPC stock traded down $3.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $173.57. 462,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,650,583. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.51. The company has a market cap of $61.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $133.65 and a 1-year high of $221.11.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.09 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in 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 typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.64.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.