Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.83 Million Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 9.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,524 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,923 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 100.0% during the 2nd 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 bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251 in the last ninety days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.68. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The stock 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.88%.

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.