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

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price cut by analysts at Barclays from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.05% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MUR. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 3.9 %

NYSE:MUR opened at $27.11 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.08. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was 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 owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. 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.