Css LLC Il Cuts Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

CSS LLC IL reduced its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,339 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 34,312 shares during the period. CSS LLC IL owned 0.07% of Murphy Oil worth $2,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 399.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $34,177,000 after purchasing an additional 810,104 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,835 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 11,467 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 3,870 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 628.0% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 6,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MUR shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho cut Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.23.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $20.90. 1,493,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,210,999. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $18.95 and a 12-month high of $43.02. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.22. 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 (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Murphy Oil Company 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.