Barclays Raises Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $23.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price target on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Roth Capital lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Johnson Rice lowered Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.15.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 8.3%

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded up $1.98 on Monday, hitting $25.82. 2,234,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,359,459. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $18.95 and a one year high of $43.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.09.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth $678,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 904,449 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $27,369,000 after buying an additional 116,552 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth $3,846,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Murphy Oil by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,926 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,087,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.