Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Barclays from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.74% from the company’s current price.

MUR has been the topic of several other research reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $26.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $3,769,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 382,642 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,579,000 after purchasing an additional 40,476 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $1,303,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 36,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 19,136 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.