Ritholtz Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,707 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.6%

MPC stock opened at $165.99 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $183.31. The company has a market capitalization of $50.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $31.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 51.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $141.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.21.

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.