UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Buys 45,758 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,215,839 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,758 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $59,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Founders Capital Management raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew 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 purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRO. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Sunday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Tuesday. 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 $27.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.73. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.