Fielder Capital Group LLC Invests $261,000 in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,790 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $748,683,000 after buying an additional 9,504,754 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after buying an additional 1,415,639 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 787.1% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,463,000 after buying an additional 1,308,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 284.3% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 974,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,059,000 after buying an additional 720,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 1.4 %

MRO traded up $0.38 during trading on Monday, reaching $26.72. The stock had a trading volume of 10,219,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,779,581. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $27.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 2.22. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,168,104.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,921.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares in the company, valued at $3,168,104.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MRO shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.61.

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.