Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,025 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,822 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $1,440,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Marathon Oil by 374.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 73,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 58,081 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Marathon Oil by 137.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 304,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 175,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 79,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays began coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.86.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 2.17. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.68.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Marathon Oil 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.