B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,727 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 663 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $5,226,000. American Trust grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 32,640 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,317,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 121.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,445 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 9,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $138.22 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $137.89 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The company 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%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Tudor Pickering cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.