Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research note issued on Monday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MRO. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective 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. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.06 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.74. Marathon Oil has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business’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 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in 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 during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at about $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 worth $383,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the second quarter worth about $40,779,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.