Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 55,084 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,606,389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 55,084 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 1.56% of Marathon Oil worth $221,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 92.6% in the first quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the first quarter worth $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the first quarter worth $31,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 65.8% in the first quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 90.6% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,361 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. 76.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MRO. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Marathon Oil from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.89. 2,964,390 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,981,393. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 2.37. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $20.57 and a twelve month high of $33.42.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 28.52% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, CAO Rob L. White sold 8,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.24, for a total value of $209,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $839,916.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, CAO Rob L. White sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.24, for a total value of $209,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $839,916.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.76, for a total transaction of $1,288,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 221,504 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,943.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,756 shares of company stock worth $2,935,605 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

Marathon Oil Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States and internationally. The company engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids, and natural gas; and the production and marketing of products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas and methanol.