Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MUR. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $29.58.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $32.16 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $34.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.16%.The company had revenue of $440.08 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.6% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,700,148 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $128,253,000 after buying an additional 89,382 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $107,247,000 after acquiring an additional 312,904 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,751,712 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,414,000 after acquiring an additional 118,689 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after purchasing an additional 668,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 8.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,468,000 after purchasing an additional 204,349 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.