Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,550,247 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 283,801 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.29% of Marathon Petroleum worth $789,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $743,690,000 after acquiring an additional 107,915 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the first 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 buying an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $558,390,000 after buying an additional 8,476 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $463,160,000 after acquiring an additional 209,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,241,000 after acquiring an additional 117,790 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.69.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC opened at $161.66 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $139.32 and a 1 year high of $221.11. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

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.