Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 5,601 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 532,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 5,601 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $16,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 8.1% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE MUR opened at $26.27 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.26 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MUR. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

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.