Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $219,537,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% in 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 in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $157.52 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.33. The company has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $140.98 and a 12 month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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

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.