Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 20,422 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% in 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 buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $26.48 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $25.26 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 2.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.38.

Murphy Oil 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.