Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,243 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.12% of Murphy Oil worth $7,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 364.6% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 113,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,185,000 after buying an additional 89,032 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 138.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 29,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 17,265 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 280.0% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 72,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after purchasing an additional 53,201 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,349,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 4.0% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,642 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.67.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR opened at $36.05 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $32.53 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

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.