Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) shares 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 trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MUR. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.58.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.20 and a 200-day moving average of $35.03. 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 company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 2.17.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by 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.