Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,736 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum makes up approximately 1.3% of Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.5% in the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.8% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 32,409 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,920,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.7% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% in the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $199.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,472,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,785,725. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $104.32 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum 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.