Adirondack Trust Co. Sells 200 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Adirondack Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,033,000 after acquiring an additional 9,355 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,764 shares during the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $912,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,364,000 after purchasing an additional 68,147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $147.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.72.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.