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

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.89.

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

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. 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 currently 18.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This trade represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $140,274,000 after buying an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,805,000 after acquiring an additional 171,450 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,369 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,673,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 68,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 28,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.