Private Advisor Group LLC Has $814,000 Stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,575 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 780 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRO. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,341,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 24.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 126,308 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,580,000 after buying an additional 24,547 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil in the first quarter worth approximately $109,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.8% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 430,339 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $12,157,000 after buying an additional 19,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 8.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,655,000 after buying an additional 4,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 1.6 %

MRO opened at $27.27 on Friday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.29 and a 200-day moving average of $27.50.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.