Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 57.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,524 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,198 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,210 shares in the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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, Barclays lowered 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO opened at $28.55 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $27.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.67. The firm has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 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 (DPR) is 18.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This trade represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Marathon Oil

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.