Morgan Stanley Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $32.00

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on MUR. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.92.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.2 %

MUR opened at $28.45 on Thursday. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.71. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $3,769,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 382,642 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,579,000 after acquiring an additional 40,476 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $1,303,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 36,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 19,136 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.