Analysts Set Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Price Target at $32.14

Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.14.

Several equities analysts have commented on MRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Marathon Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $468,428,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 323.9% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,369,127 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $38,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,122 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 560.4% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,003,375 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,436,000 after acquiring an additional 851,443 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $27.45 on Thursday. 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 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 2.19.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

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.