GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 87,643 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $12,226,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $141.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given 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, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.29.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.2%

MPC stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $158.97. The company had a trading volume of 755,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,698,457. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $183.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $142.15 and a 200 day moving average of $146.17. The company has a market cap of $48.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $31.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 51.20%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.