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

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $37.00 to $32.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MUR. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.92.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $28.45 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.71. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released 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 return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 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.