Deuterium Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Deuterium Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,883 shares during the quarter. Deuterium Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 105.8% in the first quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $408,535,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MPC shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $178.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $157.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $148.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $152.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.92.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MPC traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $147.30. 542,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,622,595. The company has a market capitalization of $55.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.56, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $159.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $149.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.34.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $8.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.79 by $0.35. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 7.52% and a return on equity of 34.66%. The business had revenue of $41.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 22.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.32%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.43, for a total transaction of $914,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,258.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.43, for a total transaction of $914,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,258.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 1,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.81, for a total transaction of $210,819.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $804,518.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Refining & Marketing, and Midstream. 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.