Grace & White Inc. NY Trims Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Grace & White Inc. NY cut its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,852 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $5,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $163,000. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.16. 1,403,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,828,007. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $32.80 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MUR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at $1,759,576.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 in the last three months. 5.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Murphy Oil

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.