Piper Sandler Lowers Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $35.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 27.42% from the stock’s current price.

MUR has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.08.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $27.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $27.15 and a one year 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 the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,659,000 after buying an additional 58,220 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 91.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.