SpiderRock Advisors LLC Invests $259,000 in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 324,854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $8,690,000 after purchasing an additional 27,598 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 109.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 32,337 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 16,928 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 103,556 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,769,000 after acquiring an additional 41,378 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $345,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Capital One Financial cut Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MRO traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.11. The company had a trading volume of 5,466,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,682,372. The company has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.91.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Marathon Oil 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.