Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $42.74, but opened at $38.89. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $38.9070, with a volume of 514,176 shares traded.

More Murphy Oil News

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp sharply raised forward earnings estimates across multiple quarters and years — e.g., FY2026 to $4.69 from $1.59 and FY2027 to $5.20 from $2.51 — and lifted several quarterly EPS forecasts (Q1–Q4 2026 and Q1–Q4 2027). The revisions signal stronger expected future profitability versus prior assumptions.
• Neutral Sentiment: The Genoil press release about higher refining yields is unrelated to Murphy Oil’s operations and is unlikely to affect MUR’s near-term share movement. Genoil press release
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the forecast upgrades, KeyCorp kept a “Sector Weight” rating (no upgrade to a buy), suggesting caution. Murphy’s most recent quarter beat EPS estimates but missed revenue (revenue down ~6.9% YoY and below expectations), and the company’s liquidity ratios (current ~0.77, quick ~0.71) and a relatively high P/E (~53.8) may be making investors risk?averse. Lower intraday volume versus average also suggests today’s move could be driven by profit-taking or broader market/energy-sector weakness rather than fresh company-specific positive catalysts.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MUR. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays raised Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler raised Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 194.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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.