Prospector Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Prospector Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 307,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $9,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MUR. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 12.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $22.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.96 and its 200 day moving average is $30.45. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $22.02 and a 1 year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released 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 last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.92.

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.