Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 7.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,087,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 260,288 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $754,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after buying an additional 12,639 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MPC stock opened at $312.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $91.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $158.00 and a 1-year high of $313.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $262.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.78.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 35.82 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $321.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $257.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.