Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 132,320 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 64.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,200 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 132,320 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 0.05% of Murphy Oil worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 8,530.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,763,345 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $50,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,914 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $64,986,000 after purchasing an additional 821,427 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 886,485.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 594,012 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $17,976,000 after buying an additional 593,945 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 418.9% during the 4th quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 645,252 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $19,525,000 after buying an additional 520,894 shares during the period. Finally, Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $11,023,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MUR stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.88. 2,112,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,163,665. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $24.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.60. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $39.46. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Roth Capital cut Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.46.

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.