Truist Financial Cuts Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Price Target to $35.00

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $36.00 to $35.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 29.39% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of MRO opened at $27.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Marathon Oil has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.35.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRO. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $748,683,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,754 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $468,428,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,801,000 after buying an additional 556,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,850,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $165,806,000 after buying an additional 825,813 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.