Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,168 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after purchasing an additional 137,059 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $4,937,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 5,574 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 over the last 90 days. 5.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $44.17 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.80 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.68. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 2.21. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 28.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MUR. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.64.

Murphy Oil 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.