Syon Capital LLC Buys 7,565 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 367.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,020 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,388 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRO traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,872,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,710,585. The stock has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.63 and a one year high of $30.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.43.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 17.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total transaction of $1,417,822.51. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total transaction of $1,417,822.51. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903 in the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of 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. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.66.

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.