Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Price Target Increased to $33.00 by Analysts at Mizuho

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by Mizuho from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the oil and gas producer's stock. Mizuho's price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.25% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. 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. Argus upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.71.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.1 %

MRO stock traded down $0.03 on Monday, hitting $26.56. 6,492,798 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,642,164. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Marathon Oil has a 12-month low of $21.81 and a 12-month high of $30.06. The stock has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Oil will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $16,065,130.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,113,336.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total value of $2,172,630.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $748,683,000 after buying an additional 9,504,754 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $315,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $61,067,000 after buying an additional 1,415,639 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company's stock.

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.