Wall Street Zen Upgrades Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) to Hold

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MUR. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.58.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $30.07 on Friday. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $35.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.54. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.76 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.75%. The business’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 494.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

More Murphy Oil News

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat on EPS: Murphy reported $0.14/share, beating the consensus loss and surprising to the upside — supportive for near-term earnings sentiment. Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike: Murphy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (7.7% increase) implying a ~4.5% yield — raises cash return to shareholders and supports income-oriented buyers.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $32, reflecting some analyst optimism on valuation/upside. Wells Fargo PT
• Positive Sentiment: Operational upside: Coverage highlighting a successful appraisal well and follow?on potential could support longer?term production expectations. Appraisal Well
• Neutral Sentiment: Company disclosures: The full Q4 earnings presentation and transcript are available for investors who want detail on cash flow, capex and guidance; useful for modeling but not a single headline mover. Earnings Transcript Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported net profit: Local coverage notes a $11.9M quarterly profit — confirms profitability but magnitude is modest relative to market cap. Profit Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry developments (new offshore deals/discoveries in Morocco and Vietnam) may influence regional exploration sentiment but are not company?specific catalysts. Morocco Deal Vietnam Discovery
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss and market reaction: Q4 revenue came in below estimates, which analysts flagged and which triggered an intra?day selloff. Revenue Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgrade: Barclays cut its rating to “underweight” and lowered its price target to $29, citing downside versus current levels — a clear near?term headwind for sentiment. Barclays Downgrade TickerReport

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.