Michael A. Henderson Sells 20,000 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Stock

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) VP Michael A. Henderson sold 20,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.91, for a total value of $538,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 131,254 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,045.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Marathon Oil Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of MRO stock opened at $26.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 2.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.80. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.57 and a fifty-two week high of $33.42.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 28.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 12.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Marathon Oil from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Marathon Oil from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.94.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,341,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,213,856,000 after acquiring an additional 392,821 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.6% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,618,959 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $422,150,000 after acquiring an additional 775,533 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,822,250 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $400,698,000 after acquiring an additional 421,238 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,650,160 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $337,247,000 after acquiring an additional 119,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,680,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $231,949,000 after acquiring an additional 111,336 shares in the last quarter. 76.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

Marathon Oil Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States and internationally. The company engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids, and natural gas; and the production and marketing of products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas and methanol.