Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp cut its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 50.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 565 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 582 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth about $70,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $151,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $41.04 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 2.26. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $36.34 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.94 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Scotiabank downgraded Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.