BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 32.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,731 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,002 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 218,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,021,000 after acquiring an additional 38,334 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 24.2% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 32,411 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 50.5% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,361,000 after buying an additional 103,092 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the first quarter worth about $1,700,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 86.5% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 132,710 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after buying an additional 61,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.58.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $30.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $29.84 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.00 and a 200 day moving average of $36.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 2.18.

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 return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

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.