Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 648,518 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 26,943 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.45% of Murphy Oil worth $14,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Murphy Oil by 3,989.7% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,710.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,666 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 246.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,747 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 148.1% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 146.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $27.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $34.52.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.The business had revenue of $440.08 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 67.36%.

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.