Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 1,502 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Shell Asset Management Co. trimmed its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRO. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,341,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,213,856,000 after buying an additional 392,821 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 1,220.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,754,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $219,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,091,570 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 60.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,739,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $194,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904,140 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 35.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,026,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $176,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,370,124 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $172,439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,395 shares in the last quarter. 77.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, CAO Rob L. White sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.85, for a total value of $114,250.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $899,010.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Citigroup raised shares of Marathon Oil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.76.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $22.67 on Thursday. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $19.42 and a twelve month high of $33.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.00 and its 200 day moving average is $26.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 5.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 2.39.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 34.22% and a return on equity of 24.17%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.83%.

Marathon Oil Profile

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Marathon Oil Corp. engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. It operates through the following two segments: United States (U. S.) and International. The U. S. segment engages in oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in the U.S.