Aigen Investment Management LP Sells 75,814 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

25 May 2020, 13:27 by Danessa Lincoln

Aigen Investment Management LP trimmed its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 37.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,780 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 75,814 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 11.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,076,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $306,221,000 after purchasing an additional 9,210,804 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 66,454,798 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $902,456,000 after acquiring an additional 10,168,092 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,553,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $591,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,378 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,899,511 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $419,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,612,867 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,517,000 after acquiring an additional 158,908 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.21% of the company’s stock.

Several analysts recently issued reports on MRO shares. ValuEngine upgraded Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Co dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $14.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna Bancshares lowered Marathon Oil from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Marathon Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Marathon Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.05.

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman purchased 56,600 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.58 per share, with a total value of $202,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,108,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,968,895.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman purchased 27,500 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.00 per share, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,080,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,322,520. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 99,100 shares of company stock worth $362,278 in the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Oil stock opened at $5.89 on Monday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $3.02 and a 12 month high of $15.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4.88 and its 200-day moving average is $9.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 3.45.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.03). Marathon Oil had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 1.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post -1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Marathon Oil

Marathon Oil Corporation operates as an energy company in the United States, Equatorial Guinea, the United Kingdom, and Libya. It operates in two segments, United States and International. 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.