JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Analyst Price Targets reports. The brokerage currently has $37.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $29.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MUR. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, October 21st. MKM Partners boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 10th. Truist upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, October 7th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Murphy Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, November 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $28.67.

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $28.43 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $11.15 and a 1-year high of $31.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of -10.57 and a beta of 2.95.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.09. Murphy Oil had a negative net margin of 21.90% and a positive return on equity of 2.99%. The firm had revenue of $630.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $582.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 16th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 12th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently -18.59%.

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Elisabeth W. Keller sold 11,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.88, for a total transaction of $329,337.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas J. Mireles sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.45, for a total transaction of $99,575.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 151.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 606,293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,115,000 after purchasing an additional 364,869 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 848,325 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,921,000 after acquiring an additional 239,613 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 43,693 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 7,496 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 54.2% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 645,426 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,025,000 after acquiring an additional 226,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 63.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 339,950 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,914,000 after acquiring an additional 131,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Exploration and Production and Corporate and Other segment. The Exploration and Production segment includes the United States, Canada, and all other countries. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on interest income, other gains and losses, interest expense, and unallocated overhead.

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