HWG Holdings LP Acquires Shares of 913 Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 913 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,556,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Saturday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.74.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Marathon Oil stock opened at $26.48 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Marathon Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released 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). Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.