Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,288,686 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,364,657 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.44% of Marathon Oil worth $200,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $468,428,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,801,000 after purchasing an additional 556,566 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,467,965 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $35,466,000 after purchasing an additional 487,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 152,008 shares in the company, valued at $4,113,336.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $1,981,684.98. Following 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,716 shares of company stock worth $4,397,507. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Sunday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $27.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 2.18. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.37 and a 200 day moving average of $25.57.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

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.