Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Down to $34.41

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $34.41, but opened at $33.49. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $33.37, with a volume of 178,973 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MUR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 4.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 2.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.15.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 48,261 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,455 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $339,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 44,623.8% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 9,371 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 170,693 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,282,000 after acquiring an additional 12,050 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.