Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $35.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $34.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 60.46% from the company’s current price.

MUR has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.85.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $21.81. The stock had a trading volume of 987,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,052,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.18. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $18.95 and a fifty-two week high of $46.91.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 18,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $672,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964.