O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 519 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUR. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 399.4% in the 3rd 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 boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,529,528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $46,284,000 after purchasing an additional 794,730 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,673,000 after buying an additional 283,695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $22.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $22.02 and a 1-year high of $49.14. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $26.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.48.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued 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 last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.92.

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.