Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,322 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 19,872 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,743 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 535,994 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,193,000 after acquiring an additional 143,912 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 139.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 735,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,844,000 after acquiring an additional 428,970 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 17,519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 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 quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently 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.