Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO - Free Report) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,750,169 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 36,787 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Marathon Oil worth $73,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $2,146,794,000 after buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth about $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,779,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRO. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 owns 76,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock traded up $0.23 on Thursday, reaching $28.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,256,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,994,419. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.54. 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 $16.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil's dividend payout ratio 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.