The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $33.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $29.00 to $33.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 4.95% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MUR. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research raised Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.09.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.22 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $36.08.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The company’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,662 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.