Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys Shares of 7,012 Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.2% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,527 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 9,048 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.1% during the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,436 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.6% during the first quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,661 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $45.11 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.80 and a fifty-two week high of $48.47. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 2.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.