Menard Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,735 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,264 shares during the quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 374.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 73,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 58,081 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 137.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 304,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after buying an additional 175,964 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 79,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,051,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,837,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Susquehanna reduced 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 note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.87.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MRO opened at $26.13 on Monday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. Marathon Oil’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is owned by 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.