KeyCorp Trims Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Target Price to $50.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $54.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the oil and gas producer's stock. KeyCorp's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 52.67% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MUR. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.17.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded down $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,704,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,683,825. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.15. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $32.53 and a one year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $340,400,000 after acquiring an additional 262,256 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.7% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $125,100,000 after buying an additional 195,906 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,138,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $88,212,000 after buying an additional 107,462 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,132,305 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $51,746,000 after buying an additional 212,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $45,050,000 after buying an additional 518,904 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.