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

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target boosted by Piper Sandler from $49.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MUR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays started coverage on shares of 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. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities 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, Murphy Oil has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $46.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.62. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $32.80 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.44%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $89,198,000 after buying an additional 2,038,692 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 34.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,172 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,554,000 after buying an additional 442,579 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at about $16,349,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 71.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 837,240 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,969,000 after buying an additional 348,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.9% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 837,625 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,986,000 after buying an additional 316,960 shares during the last quarter. 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.