Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 9.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,562 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,630 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,882,000 after buying an additional 22,526 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,673,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $52,134,000 after purchasing an additional 371,642 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its position in 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 worth $7,196,000 after purchasing an additional 34,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in 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 worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 85,649 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MRO. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,599 shares of company stock worth $9,923,300 over the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.8 %

MRO stock opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.41 and its 200 day moving average is $27.59. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Marathon Oil Company Profile

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.