Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after buying an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $219,537,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10,902.9% during the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,110,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $223,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,536 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,785,000 after purchasing an additional 621,336 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $107,393,000 after buying an additional 241,746 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.00.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.3 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $152.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.61, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.25.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

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.