Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Position Lifted by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 39.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 57,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 16,249 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 231,530 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,062 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the first quarter worth $611,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 25.3% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,839,607 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $52,134,000 after purchasing an additional 371,642 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Marathon Oil by 2.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 815,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,100,000 after purchasing an additional 23,323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.57 and a 200-day moving average of $27.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRO shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Company 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.