Morgan Stanley Lowers Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $39.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MUR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.55.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.06. 512,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,661,735. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $33.15 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.42.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $340,400,000 after buying an additional 262,256 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,100,000 after purchasing an additional 195,906 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Murphy Oil by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,138,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,212,000 after purchasing an additional 107,462 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,132,305 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,746,000 after purchasing an additional 212,100 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,050,000 after buying an additional 518,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.