Cibc World Markets Corp Buys New Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after buying an additional 58,220 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $26.73 on Monday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.88 and a 200 day moving average of $30.91. 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 (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.33%.

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.