Alpine Associates Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 528,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $15,161,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Marathon Oil by 374.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 73,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 58,081 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Marathon Oil by 137.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 304,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after buying an additional 175,964 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 79,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,051,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,837,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MRO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.87.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO opened at $26.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.75 and its 200 day moving average is $27.49. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

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.