Tidal Investments LLC Sells 50,957 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Tidal Investments LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 50.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 50,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 50,957 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised 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 acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.55 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.87. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06.

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

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is currently 18.88%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.