Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $38.84, but opened at $36.64. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $36.6920, with a volume of 142,732 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Barclays raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.75.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.75 and a beta of 0.50.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The business had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 237.29%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 105.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,498 shares during the period. SIR Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at about $30,896,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at about $21,096,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 21.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $106,163,000 after acquiring an additional 668,525 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 33.3% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,423,000 after acquiring an additional 514,127 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.