Cerity Partners LLC Buys 262,117 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 336.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 340,119 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 262,117 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $9,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Slotnik Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is presently 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.