Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 7,087 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 59.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,077 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,087 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Mizuho cut shares of Murphy Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.31.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock opened at $22.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $18.95 and a 12-month high of $43.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.