Caprock Group LLC Raises Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 390.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,805 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 29,303 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $468,428,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,801,000 after acquiring an additional 556,566 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,850,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $165,806,000 after purchasing an additional 825,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 1.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,786,956 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $79,902,000 after purchasing an additional 27,495 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRO. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of MRO opened at $26.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.46. The company has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

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.