Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Increased to $55.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price increased by analysts at Piper Sandler from $49.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.01% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on MUR. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp decreased their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.50.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of MUR traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.83. 479,072 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,831,562. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $32.80 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 2.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.59.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of Murphy Oil 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 approximately $470,447.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 7,940.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 68.2% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 365 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.