42,930 Shares in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 42,930 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRO. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Marathon Oil by 374.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 73,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 58,081 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 304,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after buying an additional 175,964 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. grew its position in Marathon Oil by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 79,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter worth $5,051,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $6,837,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.65.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of MRO stock opened at $27.43 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.53. The stock has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. 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 (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.