Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 592 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MUR. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,337 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % 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, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased 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 $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of MUR opened at $25.40 on Monday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 2.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MUR. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.31.

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.