World Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 12,540 Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $140,274,000 after acquiring an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $76,805,000 after purchasing an additional 171,450 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 10.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,369 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth $6,673,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 70.0% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 68,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,834,000 after buying an additional 28,350 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This trade represents a 30.08 % 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

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

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.