Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 10,136 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,806 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 10,136 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.8% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 32,480 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 3,930 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 201,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,361,000 after purchasing an additional 6,152 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 21,994 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 67.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 257,399 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,853,000 after acquiring an additional 103,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 66,732 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO stock opened at $28.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value 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. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRO shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.12.

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.