Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $39.24, but opened at $36.58. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $36.0540, with a volume of 195,308 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.27.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 50.94 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The business’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 194.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,118 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,662 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Murphy Oil

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.