Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 18.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,966 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 13,328 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 715,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,285,000 after acquiring an additional 117,061 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 15.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,882,000 after buying an additional 22,526 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,673,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 535,994 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,193,000 after acquiring an additional 143,912 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’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 value 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 34.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MRO. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $28.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.54. The company has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 2.16. 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 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, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.