Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 14th, 2023

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,685,811 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 210,562 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.27% of Marathon Oil worth $45,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 1,220.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,754,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $219,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,091,570 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,739,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $194,346,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904,140 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 3,527.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,735,575 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $68,690,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660,158 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 167.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,776,071 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $77,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,649 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 113.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,050,981 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $91,067,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.30% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $25.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 4.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 2.39. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $19.42 and a 12-month high of $33.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.93 and its 200-day moving average is $27.04.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 27.07% and a net margin of 44.95%. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Marathon Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 14th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is presently 7.71%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, CAO Rob L. White sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.85, for a total transaction of $114,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,010.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upgraded Marathon Oil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.88.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

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Marathon Oil Corp. engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. It operates through the following two segments: United States (U. S.) and International. The U. S. segment engages in oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in the U.S.