Tidal Investments LLC Has $1.96 Million Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 125.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,546 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 44,456 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Marathon Oil by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,535 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Marathon Oil by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 249,750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 11,259 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 270,720 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,541,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil in the fourth quarter worth $3,209,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.86. 979,601 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,084,051. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 2.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MRO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Barclays began coverage on Marathon Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Capital One Financial downgraded Marathon Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, July 26th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.14.

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.