Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Given New $26.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho lowered Murphy Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.23.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $20.90 on Friday. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $18.95 and a 12 month high of $43.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.30.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 210.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $159,346,000 after buying an additional 3,805,565 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,668,000 after buying an additional 2,029,685 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 8,530.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,763,345 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,079,000 after buying an additional 1,742,914 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 111.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,157,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,279,000 after buying an additional 1,137,882 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.