Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Buys 2,326 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,752 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $392,185,000 after buying an additional 1,357,369 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $242,582,000 after buying an additional 328,184 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,741,000 after acquiring an additional 593,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 19,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 6.3% during 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 buying an additional 171,450 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRO. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related 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 sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 344,693 shares of company stock valued at $9,930,271 in the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.84. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06.

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

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued 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 currently 18.88%.

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.