Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Cut to $34.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) had its price target cut by Barclays from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded down $0.41 on Monday, reaching $26.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,975,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,525,931. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $25.26 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a boost from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is 44.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $34,177,000 after purchasing an additional 810,104 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 641.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 672,717 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $22,697,000 after purchasing an additional 582,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 worth $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.