Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Purchased by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,562 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $762,637,000 after acquiring an additional 137,059 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $4,937,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,281,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil 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 value of $4,442,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,811,324.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MUR shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities 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, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $46.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

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.