Man Group plc Sells 65,353 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Man Group plc decreased its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 65,353 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.13% of Murphy Oil worth $5,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $84,948,000 after purchasing an additional 114,656 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $67,619,000 after buying an additional 107,871 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 61.9% in 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 buying an additional 821,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $56,214,000 after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $20.90. 1,493,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,210,999. The stock's fifty day moving average is $22.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.22. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.10. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.95 and a fifty-two week high of $43.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during 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 company's revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MUR. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Johnson Rice cut Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.23.

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.