Xponance Inc. Purchases 570 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 14,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 605,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $20,431,000 after buying an additional 76,487 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 67,246 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after buying an additional 14,181 shares during the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 50.5% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,361,000 after acquiring an additional 103,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,954,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $27.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.81.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MUR. Barclays cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. 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.