Meeder Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 68.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 45,171 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $28.48 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.65.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.92.

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.