Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Cuts Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 276,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,808 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $44,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 4,122 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $145.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $155.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $142.84 and a one year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MPC. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Tudor Pickering cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.