New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 65,560 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 648,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 65,560 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Marathon Oil worth $18,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.8% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,062 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 10,317 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 22,829 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.8% during the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,559 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Oil by 0.5% in the first quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 87,563 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.40.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE MRO traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $28.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,718,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,788,724. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.99 and its 200 day moving average is $26.96. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 2.19.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

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.