Wedmont Private Capital Has $372,000 Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Wedmont Private Capital reduced its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,992 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 90.6% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,361 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 39.9% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,379 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 76.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. 77.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $21.20 on Friday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $19.42 and a 1 year high of $33.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.11 and a 200-day moving average of $27.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 2.38.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 44.95% and a return on equity of 27.07%. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from Marathon Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRO. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Benchmark upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 28th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.88.

About Marathon Oil

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Marathon Oil Corp. engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. It operates through the following two segments: United States (U. S.) and International. The U. S. segment engages in oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in the U.S.