Synovus Financial Corp Acquires 787 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,504 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 0.4% in 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $76,805,000 after buying an additional 171,450 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after buying an additional 1,357,369 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth $6,673,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in Marathon Oil by 70.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 28,350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Thursday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $27.96 and its 200 day moving average is $27.87.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MRO shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna reduced their price target 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

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.