Mather Group LLC. Decreases Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Mather Group LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 51.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $748,683,000 after buying an additional 9,504,754 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,308,965 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its position in Marathon Oil by 284.3% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 974,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,059,000 after buying an additional 720,718 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,485,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $173,493,000 after purchasing an additional 550,473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.66.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $1,981,684.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903 over the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 2.8 %

MRO opened at $26.10 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 2.22. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.63 and a one year high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 23.20%. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.19%.

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.