Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $5.60 Million Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,159 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,083 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $5,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,639 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 323.9% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,369,127 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $38,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 560.4% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,003,375 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,436,000 after purchasing an additional 851,443 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.38 on Tuesday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 2.19.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Capital One Financial cut shares of Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.40.

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.