Wolverine Asset Management LLC Buys 10,213 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 55.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,525 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,213 shares during the quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 19.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 715,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,285,000 after buying an additional 117,061 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 15.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 22,526 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,673,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 535,994 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,193,000 after purchasing an additional 143,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $28.31 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.25 and a 200-day moving average of $27.53. The firm has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.88%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRO. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.12.

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.