Signaturefd LLC Lowers Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Signaturefd LLC trimmed its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,097 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 770 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 19.6% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 715,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,285,000 after purchasing an additional 117,061 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 15.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after purchasing an additional 22,526 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,673,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first 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. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 36.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 535,994 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,193,000 after purchasing an additional 143,912 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO opened at $26.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.60. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Marathon Oil’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the 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. This represents 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRO shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.12.

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.