Scarborough Advisors LLC Invests $35,000 in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,449 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the fourth 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 period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of 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 worth $315,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $197,801,000 after buying an additional 556,566 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,136,561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,099,000 after buying an additional 18,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,024,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $121,399,000 after buying an additional 332,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MRO. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Argus raised Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Capital One Financial lowered Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO stock opened at $27.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.37 and a 200-day moving average of $25.57. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 2.18.

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

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other news, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,336.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,716 shares of company stock valued at $4,397,507 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.