StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO)

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MRO. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.55 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.93 and its 200-day moving average is $27.81. The stock has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The trade was a 34.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 344,693 shares of company stock worth $9,930,271 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $392,185,000 after buying an additional 1,357,369 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,582,000 after purchasing an additional 328,184 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,741,000 after purchasing an additional 593,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 19,566 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $76,805,000 after purchasing an additional 171,450 shares during the period. 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.