King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 11,885 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,885 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 24.3% during 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 buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth about $64,061,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at about $30,104,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 323.9% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,369,127 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $38,801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRO. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. 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, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.65.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 0.1 %

MRO stock opened at $27.93 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.60. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Oil 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.