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

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target lifted by Mizuho from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a buy rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $49.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $45.29 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 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%. The business’s revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 28.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,444,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $704,568,000 after purchasing an additional 729,319 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% in 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,861,968 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $335,397,000 after purchasing an additional 207,547 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,815,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,682,000 after purchasing an additional 365,686 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $103,789,000 after purchasing an additional 98,855 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.