Piper Sandler Cuts Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Price Target to $34.00

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) had its price objective cut by Piper Sandler from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MRO. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $16.18 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.46 and its 200-day moving average is $27.61.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.88%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,000. The trade was a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after buying an additional 1,357,369 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.0% in 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 buying an additional 328,184 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake 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 worth $184,741,000 after acquiring an additional 593,100 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $140,274,000 after acquiring an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.