Moors & Cabot Inc. Has $686,000 Stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 100.0% during 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 position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value 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 trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.62.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s 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.