Alpine Associates Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 546,572 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 17,772 shares during the quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of Marathon Oil worth $14,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The trade was a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 346,599 shares of company stock valued at $9,923,300. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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 upped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.59.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend 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 18.88%.

Marathon Oil Company 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.