California State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 636,557 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 16,994 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Marathon Petroleum worth $128,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $764,526,000 after purchasing an additional 137,341 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,178,977 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $842,064,000 after purchasing an additional 76,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $500,685,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $620,815,000 after acquiring an additional 31,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $335,241,000 after buying an additional 117,790 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $177.02. 1,782,104 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,665,568. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $131.21 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.64.

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.