Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Barclays now has a $33.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $29.00. Murphy Oil traded as high as $36.17 and last traded at $36.34, with a volume of 3737101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.72.

MUR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Murphy Oil News

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Crude rally / Middle East supply-risk premium: Oil prices have stayed elevated amid renewed geopolitical risk in the Middle East, prompting a rotation into upstream names. Murphy’s cash flows are closely tied to crude, so the stock typically amplifies moves in oil. Murphy Oil jumps as crude stays elevated
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgrade: Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy to an overweight/buy on rising oil prices, which can attract demand from model-driven and institutional buyers. Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised rating to equal-weight and lifted its target to $33, trimming a prior underweight stance — a modest vote of confidence that supports the stock in the current oil-driven rally. Barclays upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $33 recently and other analysts (e.g., Piper Sandler) have lifted targets — analyst support combined with higher oil tends to boost sentiment. Goldman Sachs price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: Murphy recently raised its quarterly dividend (latest $0.35), which improves income appeal and can provide support during sector upswings. MarketBeat: dividend and company summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed institutional flows: Large funds show both meaningful additions (FMR added millions of shares) and sizable reductions from others; this churn can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous for longer-term direction. QuiverQuant: institutional & hedge fund activity
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Daniel Hanchera sold 47,320 shares (~$1.6M) in early March and reduced his holding materially; large insider sales can create near-term selling pressure or raise governance questions for some investors. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst consensus / targets still mixed and average targets remain below the current share price: while a few firms raised targets, the median analyst target is around the low $30s and several firms maintain hold/underweight ratings — a reminder of upside limits if oil cools. MarketBeat: analyst coverage & targets

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 1.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 84,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,387,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the first quarter valued at approximately $265,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 22.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 249,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,074,000 after acquiring an additional 45,841 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 66.4% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 12,226 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 4,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 26,553 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 7,127 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.61 and its 200 day moving average is $30.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 194.44%.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.