Piper Sandler Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $34.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective lowered by Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $34.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.31.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $25.40 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 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 last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth about $3,769,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 382,642 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,579,000 after purchasing an additional 40,476 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,303,000. GTS Securities LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 36,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 19,136 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $316,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy Oil

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.