Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 809,054 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 12,610 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $23,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at about $63,556,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 0.6 %

MRO stock opened at $26.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 2.16. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.67. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its earnings results 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). Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Nine investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

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.