Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 734 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $28.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $25.26 and a 12-month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.61%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUR. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.