Fulton Bank N.A. Lowers Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Fulton Bank N.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,288 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,905,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $473,353,000 after purchasing an additional 235,795 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $217,560,000 after purchasing an additional 415,368 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,285,248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $222,965,000 after acquiring an additional 72,192 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.5 %

MPC stock opened at $142.36 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $130.54 and a one year high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.47. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.