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

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,524 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,923 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 100.0% in the second 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 during the period. Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 77.4% in the second 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 during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus 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 company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.68.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 is currently 18.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.