43,069 Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Bought by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 43,069 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,303,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE MUR traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.11. The stock had a trading volume of 695,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,208,883. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 1.10. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $18.95 and a one year high of $43.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.97. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The company 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 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Roth Capital cut 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. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Johnson Rice cut Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.23.

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.