Insider Selling: Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Insider Sells $1,040,950.96 in Stock

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.57 and a 200 day moving average of $27.62.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its 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 business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 18.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 100.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.