Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 135,837 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 33,229 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $4,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $119,755,000 after buying an additional 45,432 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after purchasing an additional 58,220 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,831 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,824,000 after acquiring an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 28.4% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,043,950 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $35,223,000 after acquiring an additional 231,007 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUR. UBS Group decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reduced 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped 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 given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 4.6 %

NYSE MUR opened at $28.05 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $25.26 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 2.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.01 and its 200 day moving average is $33.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its 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 net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.61%.

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.