Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $76,000 Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $76,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $468,428,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,741,000 after purchasing an additional 593,100 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,786,956 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $79,902,000 after purchasing an additional 27,495 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,061,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $26.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.75 and its 200-day moving average is $27.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho increased their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.87.

About Marathon Oil

Marathon Oil Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, engages in exploration, production, and marketing of crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in the United States and internationally. The company also produces and markets products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas and methanol.