Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Acquired by Menard Financial Group LLC

Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,545 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251 in the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Nine equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.76 and its 200-day moving average is $27.74.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.88%.

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.