GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $163,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $89,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038,692 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,172 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $78,554,000 after purchasing an additional 442,579 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 837,240 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,969,000 after purchasing an additional 348,645 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 60.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 837,625 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,986,000 after purchasing an additional 316,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,273,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $46.44 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $32.80 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 2.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.70.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 28.44%.

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.