Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Price Target Cut to $35.00

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO - Free Report) had its target price cut by Truist Financial from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MRO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna restated a positive rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MRO traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.72. 10,219,185 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,779,581. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.36. Marathon Oil has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. Marathon Oil's revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Oil will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Marathon Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the sale, the insider now owns 176,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total transaction of $1,417,822.51. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 114,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,168,104.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,757,459.47. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $748,683,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,754 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $315,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 127.3% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Marathon Oil by 787.1% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $39,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308,965 shares in the last quarter. 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.