Headlands Technologies LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $58,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 24.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 3,516 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $245,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after buying an additional 6,728 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 208.2% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 35,856 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 24,221 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.23.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 4.1 %

MUR stock opened at $21.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $20.66 and a one year high of $49.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.31.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.