AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 23,981 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,192,328 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 23,981 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $34,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $468,428,000 after buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,801,000 after buying an additional 556,566 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 16.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,850,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $165,806,000 after buying an additional 825,813 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,136,561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18,125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Eight investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.40.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,987,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,755,517. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.15. The stock has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 2.19. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

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

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

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.