United Services Automobile Association Sells 2,918 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

United Services Automobile Association cut its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,918 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 22,829 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 77.4% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 3.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 344,693 shares of company stock worth $9,930,271. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a P/E 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 announced 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. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 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.