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

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective boosted by Mizuho from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MUR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $48.38.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.2 %

MUR opened at $46.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.56 and a 200-day moving average of $42.55.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The firm had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Murphy Oil news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,444,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $704,568,000 after buying an additional 729,319 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after purchasing an additional 137,059 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,861,968 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $335,397,000 after purchasing an additional 207,547 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,815,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,682,000 after purchasing an additional 365,686 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $103,789,000 after buying an additional 98,855 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.