UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target dropped by research analysts at UBS Group from $28.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.65% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.23.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $19.39 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.12. 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 one year low of $19.23 and a one year high of $48.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.68.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,890,000 after purchasing an additional 34,620 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $618,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $678,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $1,230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.