Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $59.00 at Truist Financial

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price raised by Truist Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $47.55.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $48.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $32.80 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 2.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.67 and its 200-day moving average is $42.48.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The business had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after buying an additional 137,059 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth approximately $4,937,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 5,574 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,281,000 after buying an additional 1,629 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, 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.