Headlands Technologies LLC Has $58,000 Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $58,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,673,000 after buying an additional 283,695 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 valued at $53,824,000 after acquiring an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MUR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.23.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $21.40 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $20.66 and a 1-year high of $49.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.31.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

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

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.