Grace & White Inc. NY Lowers Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Grace & White Inc. NY cut its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,852 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY owned approximately 0.08% of Murphy Oil worth $5,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $89,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,692 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,172 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,554,000 after purchasing an additional 442,579 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 71.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 837,240 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,969,000 after purchasing an additional 348,645 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.9% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 837,625 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,986,000 after purchasing an additional 316,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,273,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,403,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,828,007. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.62. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $32.80 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The company had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Barclays began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank downgraded Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.64.

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.