Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) PT Lowered to $39.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.29% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MUR. Barclays cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank cut Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.55.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $35.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.05 and a 200 day moving average of $41.38. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $33.15 and a 12 month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $340,400,000 after acquiring an additional 262,256 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,100,000 after purchasing an additional 195,906 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,138,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,212,000 after purchasing an additional 107,462 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,132,305 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,746,000 after buying an additional 212,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 90.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $45,050,000 after buying an additional 518,904 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.