Todd Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Todd Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 782,492 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 137,419 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Marathon Oil worth $18,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,024,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,399,000 after buying an additional 332,200 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878,543 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,386,000 after purchasing an additional 29,810 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,977 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $61,067,000 after buying an additional 1,415,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at about $283,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRO. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday. Argus raised Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.66.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total transaction of $1,074,766.41. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,459.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.34. 9,055,754 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,206,166. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.43. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.63 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Marathon Oil 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.