Insider Selling: Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) CEO Sells $3,513,452.66 in Stock

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY) CEO Christopher Stavros sold 119,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total value of $3,513,452.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 883,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,880,409.68. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE MGY opened at $29.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.89. Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp has a twelve month low of $19.09 and a twelve month high of $29.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.06.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 24.79%.The firm had revenue of $317.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Magnolia Oil & Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.90.

Institutional Trading of Magnolia Oil & Gas

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MGY. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 12.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,861,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,878 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 1.9% in the second quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 691,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,555,000 after purchasing an additional 12,638 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 16.3% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 80,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 4.4% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,781,000 after purchasing an additional 38,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 16,251.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 626,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,960,000 after buying an additional 622,912 shares during the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Magnolia Oil & Gas

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE: MGY) is an independent exploration and production company focused on the acquisition, development and optimization of onshore oil and gas assets in South Texas. Headquartered in Houston, the company concentrates its efforts on the Eagle Ford Shale, where it holds significant working interests in key producing counties.

The company’s core operations center on horizontal drilling and multi-stage completions designed to extract light crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).