Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stake Decreased by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,363 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.5% during 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 last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE MUR opened at $26.12 on Wednesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 2.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.11.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MUR shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

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.