Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 27,846 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,141 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 27,846 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $2,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 374.5% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 73,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 58,081 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 304,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,353,000 after buying an additional 175,964 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 79,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,930,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,051,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,837,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO opened at $26.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Capital One Financial cut shares of Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Nine research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.76.

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.