Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp lessened its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,633 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,143 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $2,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRO. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $1,440,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,639 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 3.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,692,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $125,527,000 after acquiring an additional 150,440 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $3,209,000. Finally, Ardevora Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP now owns 449,551 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,861,000 after acquiring an additional 76,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:MRO opened at $26.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.19 and a 200-day moving average of $25.36. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $1,981,684.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.