Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 17,130 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,995 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 17,130 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,274,000 after purchasing an additional 19,566 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,805,000 after buying an additional 171,450 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 10.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $392,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,369 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,673,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 70.0% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 68,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 28,350 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.87. 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 twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

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

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

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.