Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Receives $32.66 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.66.

MRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MRO stock opened at $27.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil has a fifty-two week low of $21.63 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.34. The company has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 23.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Marathon Oil will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.19%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,921.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,921.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 4.8% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,062 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 10,317 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 1.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 37,228 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.