Susquehanna Reaffirms Positive Rating for Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO)

Susquehanna restated their positive rating on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $33.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Marathon Oil from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $32.66.

Marathon Oil Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $27.53 on Monday. Marathon Oil has a 52-week low of $21.63 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.19%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903 over the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Marathon Oil in the first quarter valued at approximately $496,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 16.7% in the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 27,885 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Summa Corp. boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 3.7% in the first quarter. Summa Corp. now owns 336,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,522,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 261.0% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Marathon Oil by 32.7% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 204,619 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,799,000 after buying an additional 50,381 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is 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.