Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $20.96 Million Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 786,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,483 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $20,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 1.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 22,829 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 24,084 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 7,897 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Marathon Oil by 3.1% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 16,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the 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 directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,335,313.10. This trade represents a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251 over the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Mizuho decreased their price target 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.69. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 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 (NYSE:MRO) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 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.