Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $4.06 Million Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,838 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,728 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $4,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $748,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,754 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $468,428,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 787.1% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308,965 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total transaction of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,459.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total transaction of $1,074,766.41. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903 in the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Sunday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Capital One Financial lowered Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MRO traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.30. 5,786,074 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,629,191. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.45 and its 200-day moving average is $25.54. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The firm has a market cap of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

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.