Invesco Ltd. Has $43.14 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,425,706 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,353 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $43,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,890,000 after acquiring an additional 34,620 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 valued at $56,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at about $618,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $678,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $20.60 on Thursday. 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 $18.95 and a 52-week high of $46.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.68.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.77.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

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.