Syon Capital LLC Has $743,000 Stock Holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Syon Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.30. The company had a trading volume of 5,786,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,629,191. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.54. The company has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06.

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

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 over the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.