Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 14.97% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.83.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded down $0.51 on Friday, hitting $26.96. The company had a trading volume of 639,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,242,035. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $26.47 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 2.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after acquiring an additional 58,220 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.