Prudential PLC Sells 2,928 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Prudential PLC trimmed its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,873 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,928 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $11,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth about $35,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.38.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $163.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $139.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.