Carnegie Investment Counsel Cuts Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Carnegie Investment Counsel lowered its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,043 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,932 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $2,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the first 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 buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth approximately $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth $40,779,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MRO. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.74. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently 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.