Barclays Lowers Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $32.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price cut by Barclays from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $26.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 2.18. 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 has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.11.

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 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 company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MUR. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 51,295 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 6,812 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 220,497 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $2,232,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently 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.