Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 5,479 Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,340 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,479 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRO. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.2% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 44.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,861 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after buying an additional 32,717 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 1.5% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 238,491 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,380,000 after buying an additional 3,525 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 11.4% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 149.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 373,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,002,000 after buying an additional 223,877 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,921.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,921.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $1,981,684.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903 over the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.66.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of MRO stock opened at $27.77 on Friday. Marathon Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.63 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.44.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 23.20%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.19%.

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.