Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $613.62 Million Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,399,977 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 452,043 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.37% of Marathon Petroleum worth $613,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.79.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $126.76. 2,424,971 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,699,820. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $140.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $201.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 36.66%.

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.