Patrick Wagner Sells 36,094 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Stock

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.47 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 50 day moving average price of $27.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.62. The company has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 15.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after buying an additional 22,526 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,673,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 68,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 28,350 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 25.3% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,839,607 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $52,134,000 after purchasing an additional 371,642 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRO shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

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.