Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,562 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,630 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 100.0% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 77.4% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MRO opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. 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 moving average of $27.41 and a 200 day moving average of $27.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 346,599 shares of company stock worth $9,923,300. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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 equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

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.