Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Trims Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,612 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 12,710 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $29,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% during the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $157.39 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $157.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.70. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $140.98 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The firm has a market cap of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.