Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Has $221,000 Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Tudor Pickering downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC opened at $152.56 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $140.98 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. This is a boost 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 is presently 17.34%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.