Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Sells 86 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,090 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock traded up $2.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $182.93. 1,281,029 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,736,856. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.81. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.