Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $5.83 Million Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 25,758 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $5,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 1.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 22,829 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 24,084 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Marathon Oil by 6.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 7,897 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Marathon Oil by 3.1% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 344,693 shares of company stock valued at $9,930,271. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna decreased their target price 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. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.96 and a 200-day moving average of $27.84. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is currently 18.88%.

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.