XTX Topco Ltd Acquires 24,221 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 208.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 35,856 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 24,221 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 16.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 49,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MUR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. 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 note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.58.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR opened at $30.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.61. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $29.84 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Murphy Oil 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.