KeyCorp Increases Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $54.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price increased by analysts at KeyCorp from $50.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.98% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Scotiabank downgraded Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.2 %

MUR opened at $46.16 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.62. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 over the last quarter. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 14.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP raised its position in Murphy Oil by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 9,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.