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

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

MRO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.59 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.36 and a 200 day moving average of $27.56.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 19,872 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,743 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 17,519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 19.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 715,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,285,000 after acquiring an additional 117,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 50.8% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.