Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Lowered to $39.00 at Morgan Stanley

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MUR has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $45.55.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $34.34 on Monday. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $33.15 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 47.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 447 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.