Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $37.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.92.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $28.45 on Thursday. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.