Captrust Financial Advisors Decreases Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Captrust Financial Advisors cut its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 4.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,592 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 328,184 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Marathon Oil by 10.1% in 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. lifted its stake 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 worth $140,274,000 after purchasing an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $76,805,000 after buying an additional 171,450 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $27.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.77. 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 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 344,693 shares of company stock worth $9,930,271 in the last ninety days. 0.35% of the stock is owned by 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.