Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) traded up 7.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $29.00. The company traded as high as $24.87 and last traded at $24.87. 445,562 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 22,474,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.08.
Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, February 21st. Benchmark downgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 2nd. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.
In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 54,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $1,251,429.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Rob L. White sold 8,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $200,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,943 shares of company stock valued at $12,305,531 in the last ninety days. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Oil by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 47,975,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $787,754,000 after purchasing an additional 998,850 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Marathon Oil by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 31,810,842 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $434,854,000 after purchasing an additional 878,317 shares in the last quarter. JB Investments Management LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Oil by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. JB Investments Management LLC now owns 22,150,122 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $363,705,000 after purchasing an additional 531,527 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,835,751 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $229,837,000 after buying an additional 335,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,976,955 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $213,073,000 after buying an additional 351,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.26% of the company’s stock.
The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 2.76.
Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 16th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 17.30% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The business’s revenue was up 116.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a boost from Marathon Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.14%.
Marathon Oil Company Profile
Marathon Oil Corp. engages in the exploration, production, and marketing of liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. It operates through the following two segments: United States (U. S.) and International. The U. S. segment engages in oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in the U.S.