Mizuho Raises Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $59.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) had its price target increased by Mizuho from $55.00 to $59.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

MUR has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.92. 1,190,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,759,696. The company has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $33.08 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The business's 50-day moving average price is $45.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.54.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $89,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,692 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 34.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,172 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $78,554,000 after purchasing an additional 442,579 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth about $16,349,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 71.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 837,240 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $37,969,000 after purchasing an additional 348,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 837,625 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $37,986,000 after purchasing an additional 316,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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.