Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,977 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,418 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $2,146,794,000 after buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slotnik Capital LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,779,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO opened at $26.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 2.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.60.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.43 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 $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 17.12%.

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.