Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stock Holdings Lessened by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 38.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 14,239 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $340,400,000 after purchasing an additional 262,256 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,100,000 after purchasing an additional 195,906 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 5.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,138,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,212,000 after acquiring an additional 107,462 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,050,000 after acquiring an additional 518,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $33.15 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.64 and a 200 day moving average of $37.67. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $30.99 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.92.

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.