Continuum Advisory LLC Sells 62 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Continuum Advisory LLC lessened its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sara Bay Financial grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 29.9% in the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,340 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 5.7% in the second quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 2,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 22.8% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,733 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% in the second quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 7,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% in the second quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 5,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.38.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC traded down $2.46 on Tuesday, hitting $176.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 277,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,624,496. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $171.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $139.32 and a one year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 16.48%.

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

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.