Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,112,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 383,710 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 1.45% of Marathon Oil worth $216,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $392,185,000 after buying an additional 1,357,369 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,741,000 after purchasing an additional 593,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $140,274,000 after acquiring an additional 19,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,805,000 after buying an additional 171,450 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued 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.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO opened at $28.55 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.73. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

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

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251 in the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Oil Company 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.