Marshall Wace LLP Has $467,000 Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 88.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,435 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 115,699 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,177,000 after purchasing an additional 810,104 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,529,528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $46,284,000 after purchasing an additional 794,730 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 886,485.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 594,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,976,000 after buying an additional 593,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MUR. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of MUR opened at $21.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.99 and its 200-day moving average is $28.39.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

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.