Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Purchased by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 31.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,939 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised 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 acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $19.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.68. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $18.95 and a 12 month high of $48.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.88.

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 the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.52%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.