Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,363 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $119,755,000 after buying an additional 45,432 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,659,000 after buying an additional 58,220 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,214,000 after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $26.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.25 and a 200-day moving average of $31.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp cut their target price 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. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.31.

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.