Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 36,344 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,613,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 36,344 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Marathon Oil worth $38,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,341,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,213,856,000 after acquiring an additional 392,821 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $748,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,754 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 1,220.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,754,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $219,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,091,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,739,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $194,346,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904,140 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 114,828 shares in the company, valued at $3,168,104.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,921.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $27.50 on Friday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.63 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.23 and its 200 day moving average is $25.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.76.

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.