Simmons Bank Purchases 16,975 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Simmons Bank lifted its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 38.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,643 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 16,975 shares during the period. Simmons Bank's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,890,000 after acquiring an additional 34,620 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 214,258 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,085,000 after acquiring an additional 26,563 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 7,070.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 113,144 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,210,000 after acquiring an additional 111,566 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 350.0% in the first quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $12,780,000 after acquiring an additional 350,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Roth Capital lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.15.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 8.6%

Shares of MUR traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $25.89. The company had a trading volume of 4,025,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,371,704. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $43.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.