Railway Pension Investments Ltd Sells 10,900 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd reduced its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 10,900 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $44,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MPC. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.85.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock traded down $8.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,599,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,325,567. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $133.65 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $58.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. 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 issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business 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 posted $6.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually 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.