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

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the first quarter worth $26,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Monday, reaching $22.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,990,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,341,055. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.95 and a one year high of $43.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.56. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 1.09. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The company's revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Roth Capital lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Johnson Rice cut shares of Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.08.

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.