Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 161 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $213,605,000 after buying an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $219,537,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 621,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 415,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MPC stock opened at $157.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $140.98 and a one 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $158.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase 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 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MPC shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Tudor Pickering cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

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.