Millennium Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC has reduced its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation by 11.9%, selling 197,024 shares during the first quarter, now holding approximately 1.02% of the company valued at $41.38 million.
• In the same quarter, several institutional investors, including AQR Capital Management, raised their stakes in Murphy Oil, with AQR increasing its holdings by a significant 111.6%.
• Murphy Oil reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.27, surpassing analysts' expectations, despite a 13.4% decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,457,194 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 197,024 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 1.02% of Murphy Oil worth $41,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 18,060 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC now owns 17,861 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.2% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,367 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,838 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.04. 397,490 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,821,060. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.63 and a 200 day moving average of $23.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $36.63. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 1.15.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. The business had revenue of $695.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 67.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MUR. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $29.54.

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.