Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $1.83 Million Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 70.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 28,350 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 1.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 22,829 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 1.9% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 24,084 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 3.1% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRO shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.61. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 346,599 shares of company stock valued at $9,923,300. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.