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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Barclays dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $28.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.87. The company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a P/E 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.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’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 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 sold 344,693 shares of company stock worth $9,930,271 over the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $383,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,779,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,273,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.