Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

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 shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 about 1.02% of Murphy Oil worth $41,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 84,061 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 30.9% during the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 684,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 161,292 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,394,000. Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 42.3% during the first quarter. Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC now owns 518,520 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $14,726,000 after purchasing an additional 154,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 111.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,157,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $61,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,882 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $24.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 1.15. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $36.63.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.The business had revenue of $695.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho cut Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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 increased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $29.69.

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.

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