Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $31.64, but opened at $32.81. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $32.53, with a volume of 445,473 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.58.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.02.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. The business's revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,217,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 218,739 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,021,000 after purchasing an additional 38,334 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,316 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 32,411 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 50.5% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,361,000 after buying an additional 103,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 86.5% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 132,710 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,473,000 after buying an additional 61,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.