Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,534 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 22,526 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,673,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,839,607 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $52,134,000 after acquiring an additional 371,642 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 270,215 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,196,000 after acquiring an additional 34,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 217.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 125,082 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 85,649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 346,599 shares of company stock worth $9,923,300. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of MRO opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.59.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

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.