King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,338 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,926 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 231,530 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,563,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the first quarter worth approximately $611,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 2.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 815,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,100,000 after purchasing an additional 23,323 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 13.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 90,401 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,562,000 after purchasing an additional 10,500 shares during the period. Finally, Black Maple Capital Management LP grew its position in Marathon Oil by 126.2% in the 1st quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 47,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 26,502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRO. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

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.