Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) CEO Lee M. Tillman Sells 256,591 Shares of Stock

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.59. The firm has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. 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 (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for 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%. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $392,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,369 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,582,000 after purchasing an additional 328,184 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 10.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,741,000 after buying an additional 593,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.