IFM Investors Pty Ltd Sells 7,476 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 9.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,114 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,476 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $11,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $620,815,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,390,000 after purchasing an additional 8,476 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 209,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $335,241,000 after buying an additional 117,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $152.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.48 and a 200-day moving average of $174.39. The stock has a market cap of $53.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The firm had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.00.

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.