Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 641.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 672,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 582,020 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $22,697,000 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. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 245,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $8,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 22,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 235.2% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,799 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $35.44. The company had a trading volume of 308,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,193. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.36. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $32.53 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.58.

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.