Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Westchester Capital Management LLC

Westchester Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 43.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 512,848 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 402,088 shares during the quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $13,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,274,000 after acquiring an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $76,805,000 after purchasing an additional 171,450 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after buying an additional 1,357,369 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 15.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,882,000 after buying an additional 22,526 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,673,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. 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. The company has a market cap 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 $27.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.69.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.88%.

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.