Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 4.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,062 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its position in Marathon Oil by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Capital One Financial cut shares of Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $28.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 2.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.84. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

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.