Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,330,329 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 540,654 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $751,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $198.38.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $163.58 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $170.03 and a 200 day moving average of $180.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $139.32 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $57.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.32 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

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.