Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 901 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 901 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $468,428,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,639 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,801,000 after acquiring an additional 556,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,467,965 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $35,466,000 after acquiring an additional 487,514 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.67 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 2.19. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06.

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

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.86.

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.