Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,752 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,490,171 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,683,000 after purchasing an additional 120,284 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 273,434 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,282,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 17.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,552 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,053,000 after buying an additional 5,913 shares in the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the third quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 659,170 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,554,000 after acquiring an additional 77,937 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRO. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 344,693 shares of company stock worth $9,930,271. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.