Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,982 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,971 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $3,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 7,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,878 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Estate Counselors LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 1.0% in the third quarter. Estate Counselors LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of 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, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $27.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 2.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.35. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,065,130.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the transaction, 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.