Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.74% from the stock’s current price.

MUR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock opened at $26.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.