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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report published on Wednesday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MRO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Nine research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.12.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO opened at $27.27 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRO. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Marathon Oil by 19.6% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 117,061 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 22,526 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,673,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 535,994 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,193,000 after acquiring an additional 143,912 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by 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.