World Investment Advisors LLC Invests $334,000 in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. This trade represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO opened at $28.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.87.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRO. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Company 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.