Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $26.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $31.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.31.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $22.06 on Wednesday. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $43.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.32 and its 200 day moving average is $27.65.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The company’s revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the first quarter valued at $265,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 84,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 684,008 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 161,292 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth about $10,394,000. Finally, Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 42.3% in the first quarter. Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC now owns 518,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,726,000 after purchasing an additional 154,249 shares during 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.