Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $5.68 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 187,695 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,488 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $5,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,138 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after acquiring an additional 20,396 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 90.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 55,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 4,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

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

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $26.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $25.26 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.30.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

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.