Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $1.02 Million Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,544 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,318 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 41,014 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 4,122 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 16.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,138 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after acquiring an additional 20,396 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 55,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $26.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.39 and its 200 day moving average is $32.30. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $25.26 and a 1 year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents 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.

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.