Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,137,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 30,501 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum comprises about 0.6% of Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned 0.59% of Marathon Petroleum worth $430,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MPC shares. Mizuho upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded down $18.59 on Tuesday, reaching $181.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,780,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,784,731. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $104.32 and a 1 year 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.68. The company has a market capitalization of $65.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

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.