Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price Up 7.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 7.2% during trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $23.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Murphy Oil traded as high as $25.32 and last traded at $25.57. Approximately 558,327 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 2,353,599 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.84.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MUR. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Mizuho lowered Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 17.9% during the 4th 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 146.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 350.0% during the 1st 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. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.2% during the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.5%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.78 and a 200-day moving average of $25.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.09.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

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.