Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 764,310 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 94.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,744 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 764,310 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRO. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.95 and its 200 day moving average is $27.87. The stock has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Marathon Oil 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.