Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $20.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.06. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $46.91.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price target on Murphy Oil and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought 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 directly 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. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Murphy Oil

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.