Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 12,610 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 809,054 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 12,610 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned about 0.14% of Marathon Oil worth $23,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835,604 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the fourth 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 worth $383,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,210 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,582,000 after purchasing an additional 328,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 10.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,741,000 after purchasing an additional 593,100 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $26.63 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.67. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MRO shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Capital One Financial downgraded Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.