Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Trims Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $56,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $133,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 242,342 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,807,000 after buying an additional 59,563 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 187.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,645 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,434 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of MPC opened at $145.75 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.21. The stock has a market cap of $46.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often 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.