B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys New Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 86,089 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $2,292,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth approximately $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $383,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MRO stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.55. 37,029,766 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,801,167. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 2.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.62.

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

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.88%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Marathon Oil

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.