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

Investment analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report released on Saturday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MRO. Barclays reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The business’s 50-day moving average is $27.62 and its 200-day moving average is $27.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter worth $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Slotnik Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at about $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth about $33,273,000. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.