Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stock Position Raised by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 830.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,118 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 353.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,358 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,948,000 after purchasing an additional 114,656 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 41,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 9,939 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 886,485.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 594,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,976,000 after acquiring an additional 593,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $3,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.77.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $20.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.24 and its 200-day moving average is $29.18. 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 has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.68. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $46.91.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 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.