Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) had its price target dropped by analysts at Piper Sandler from $37.00 to $34.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.61% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on MRO. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRO traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $28.91. 1,579,721 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,952,622. The company has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.57.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. This trade represents a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 10.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $392,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,369 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,582,000 after purchasing an additional 328,184 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,741,000 after purchasing an additional 593,100 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,274,000 after purchasing an additional 19,566 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.