Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Stake Lowered by Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors cut its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Viking Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 12.5% during the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 180,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.6% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 77,646 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 26,442 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 18.1% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 20,868 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202 shares in the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the first quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, F&V Capital Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Oil by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC now owns 557,112 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,789,000 after buying an additional 10,155 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Oil stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,528,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,731,859. Marathon Oil Co. has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 2.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.75.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.