Meeder Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 68.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 45,171 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $635,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in 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 period. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.92.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MUR opened at $28.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.29 and a 200 day moving average of $30.65.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

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

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.