Navellier & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO - Free Report) by 87.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,738 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 89,312 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $748,683,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,754 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $315,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $61,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,639 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 787.1% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $39,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308,965 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 284.3% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 974,186 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $26,059,000 after acquiring an additional 720,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have weighed in on MRO. Truist Financial cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.14.
View Our Latest Report on Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil Stock Performance
NYSE MRO traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $26.21. The stock had a trading volume of 5,648,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,958,375. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 2.22. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06. The business's 50-day moving average price is $27.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55.
Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Marathon Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,065,130.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Marathon Oil
(
Free Report)
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.
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