Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 27,563 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 621,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 27,563 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Murphy Oil worth $17,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 214,258 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,085,000 after buying an additional 26,563 shares during the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 178,402 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,067,000 after acquiring an additional 27,350 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,151 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.96. 2,651,504 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,339,882. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.09. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $43.02.

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 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.08.

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.