Altshuler Shaham Ltd Sells 473 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,781 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 473 shares during the quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $43,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $1,440,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,692,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,527,000 after purchasing an additional 150,440 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $3,209,000. Finally, Ardevora Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP now owns 449,551 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,861,000 after purchasing an additional 76,210 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,459.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,459.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $26.98. The stock had a trading volume of 6,676,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,753,813. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.19 and a 200-day moving average of $25.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MRO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.61.

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.