Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Finally, Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,779,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.12.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Marathon Oil stock opened at $27.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.50. The company has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

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.