Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 31st, 2023

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,975 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $383,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,341,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,213,856,000 after acquiring an additional 392,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,050,291 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $203,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209,296 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 1,220.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,754,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $219,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,091,570 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 60.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,739,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $194,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904,140 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,026,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $176,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,182 shares during the period. 77.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $23.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $14.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.57, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 2.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.05. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $19.42 and a twelve month high of $33.42.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 27.07% and a net margin of 44.95%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from Marathon Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.71%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, CAO Rob L. White sold 5,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.85, for a total transaction of $114,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,344 shares in the company, valued at $899,010.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded Marathon Oil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

About Marathon Oil

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Marathon Oil Corp. engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. It operates through the following two segments: United States (U. S.) and International. The U. S. segment engages in oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in the U.S.