Mizuho Trims Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Target Price to $32.00

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) had its price target cut by Mizuho from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MRO. Citigroup cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an equal weight rating and set a $29.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned 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 an average target price of $31.65.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MRO stock opened at $27.43 on Monday. Marathon Oil has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.53. The firm has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 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.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

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 transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $468,428,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,556,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $383,313,000 after buying an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.