Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,146 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,778 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $56,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $618,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $678,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,230,000. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 43,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 13,262 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $19.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.68. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $26.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.12. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $19.23 and a 1 year high of $48.64.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 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.