Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Given New $32.00 Price Target at Barclays

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MUR. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $26.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % 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.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.