Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Price Target Increased to $45.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $35.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 54.69% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report 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 report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $29.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.31. Marathon Oil has a fifty-two week low of $21.63 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

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. In other news, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 152,008 shares in the company, valued at $4,113,336.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 176,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 1,220.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,754,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $219,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,091,570 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 1,134.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,457,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $130,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,428 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth about $89,591,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. 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.