HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 472,110 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 21,339 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Marathon Oil worth $12,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 217.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 125,082 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 85,649 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 126.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 11,299 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 38,875 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,115,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,483 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,082,000 after buying an additional 4,509 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,130 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 5,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.78. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Sunday, December 1st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 344,693 shares of company stock valued at $9,930,271 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.