Alberta Investment Management Corp Increases Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 188.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 204,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 133,640 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $6,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $1,217,000. Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 50.5% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,361,000 after buying an additional 103,092 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 605,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,431,000 after buying an additional 76,487 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 67,246 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,268,000 after buying an additional 14,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $796,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MUR opened at $28.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $25.26 and a 1-year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.61%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased 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 owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Company 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.