Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,242,350 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,752 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $33,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRO. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 100.0% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 77.4% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.56. The stock has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. 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.