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

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.62. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 10.2% in 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 acquiring 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 during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 lifted its stake in Marathon Oil by 6.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Saturday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Nine 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

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.