Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Receives $33.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Benchmark raised shares of Marathon Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $23.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $14.47 billion, a PE ratio of 5.76, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.39. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $19.42 and a one year high of $33.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day moving average of $26.26.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 34.22% and a return on equity of 24.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.83%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other news, CAO Rob L. White sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.85, for a total transaction of $114,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,344 shares in the company, valued at $899,010.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,379 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Carl Stuart Investment Advisor Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $15,200,230,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 15,330 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,160 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. 77.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Marathon Oil

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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.