Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 98 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $93,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth about $219,537,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $118,785,000 after acquiring an additional 621,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $107,393,000 after acquiring an additional 241,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MPC opened at $155.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $140.98 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $158.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.95. The firm has a market cap of $49.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.14 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.84%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

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.