Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 11,746 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 62.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,746 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $813,000 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 the business. Carrera Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the third quarter valued at about $1,813,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $247,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Oil by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,322 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its position in Marathon Oil by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 270,215 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,196,000 after acquiring an additional 34,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Marathon Oil by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. This 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 available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the 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 owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRO shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE MRO opened at $28.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.57. The company has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 2.16. 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 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS 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 issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.88%.

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.