Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 30,360 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,418,012 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 30,360 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $393,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% in 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 buying an additional 9,355 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.8% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $912,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 353.4% during the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,989 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,713,000 after purchasing an additional 43,639 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $158.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $140.98 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $158.78 and a 200 day moving average of $167.64.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 buy 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.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank dropped 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 research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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 price target 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.