M&T Bank Corp Sells 6,143 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,633 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,143 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $2,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRO. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $748,683,000 after buying an additional 9,504,754 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,067,000 after buying an additional 1,415,639 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 787.1% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,463,000 after buying an additional 1,308,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 284.3% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 974,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,059,000 after buying an additional 720,718 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.61.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total transaction of $1,074,766.41. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 176,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total transaction of $1,417,822.51. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 114,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 176,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.3 %

MRO opened at $26.98 on Thursday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

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.