Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,288 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,582,000 after buying an additional 328,184 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,786,956 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $79,902,000 after acquiring an additional 27,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRO. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE MRO opened at $28.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. 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 fifty day moving average of $27.36 and a 200-day moving average of $27.56.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio 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.