Pathstone Holdings LLC Grows Stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 224,504 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,817 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $5,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management increased its position in Marathon Oil by 100.0% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 77.4% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % 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, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This trade represents a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MRO stock opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRO. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.