Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Mizuho from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MUR. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays started coverage on Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.38.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $45.95 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $32.80 and a one year high of $49.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after purchasing an additional 137,059 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,937,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 5,574 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. 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.