Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $29.00 to $21.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, StockTargetPrices.com reports.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) traded down 6.17% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.40. 6,212,132 shares of the stock traded hands. The company’s market cap is $3.17 billion. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.04 and its 200-day moving average is $26.98. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $14.30 and a 12-month high of $52.00.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 27th. The company reported ($0.76) EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($1.20) by $0.44. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The firm earned $658.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $610.63 million. The firm’s revenue was down 53.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post ($3.30) EPS for the current year.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MUR. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $23.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 12th. Nomura reiterated a hold rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Credit Agricole began coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, December 15th. They issued an underperform rating for the company. CLSA reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, December 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, December 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.36.

In other news, Director Caroline G. Theus sold 28,500 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.61, for a total transaction of $530,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 417,357 shares in the company, valued at $7,767,013.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Proficio Capital Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $0. MUFG Americas purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $0. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings now owns 133,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Charter Trust Company increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charter Trust Company now owns 18,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period.

Murphy Oil Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and production company. The Company’s exploration and production business explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across the world. This business maintains upstream operating offices in locations, including Calgary, Alberta and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Company’s crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids production, as of 2014 averaged 151,647 barrels per day. The Company has operations in United States, Canada, Malaysia and all other countries, including Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Suriname, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, among others. As of December 31, 2014, total United States proved reserves were 204.9 million barrels of crude oil, 29.1 million barrels of natural gas liquids and 226 billion cubic feet of natural gas. In Canada, it owns an interest in three non-operated assets, the Hibernia and Terra Nova fields offshore Newfoundland in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin and Syncrude Canada Ltd.

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