Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $678,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 22,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $678,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at $1,217,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares during the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 50.5% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,361,000 after acquiring an additional 103,092 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 605,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $20,431,000 after acquiring an additional 76,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $618,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $26.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.88 and a 200 day moving average of $30.94. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MUR. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

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.