Marathon Oil’s (MRO) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. 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. Barclays initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an overweight rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.66.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MRO traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.34. 9,055,754 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,206,166. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.43. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. Marathon Oil has a twelve month low of $21.63 and a twelve month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Oil will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 176,923 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,459.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $4,757,459.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,440,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 57.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 607,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $16,246,000 after acquiring an additional 221,388 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,692,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,527,000 after purchasing an additional 150,440 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 4th quarter worth about $3,209,000. Finally, Ardevora Asset Management LLP increased its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP now owns 449,551 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,861,000 after purchasing an additional 76,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.