Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $35.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price boosted by Mizuho from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $29.83.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $33.84 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.60 and a 200-day moving average of $28.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $35.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $720.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $648.80 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 4.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 148.1% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 494.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy Oil

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.