Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Shares Bought by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation by 8,530.7%, purchasing over 1.7 million additional shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed sentiment on Murphy Oil, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.46 following various rating adjustments from firms like Johnson Rice and Wells Fargo.
• Murphy Oil's most recent earnings report showed a 15.4% year-over-year decline in revenue, despite beating earnings per share estimates with $0.56 compared to expectations of $0.48.

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 8,530.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,763,345 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,742,914 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 1.24% of Murphy Oil worth $50,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 46.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,652 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,134 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $243,000. Poplar Forest Capital LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 16.9% in the first quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC now owns 397,174 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $11,280,000 after buying an additional 57,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 151,107 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 26,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Johnson Rice cut Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.46.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.93. The company had a trading volume of 989,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,944,504. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.09. Murphy Oil Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $41.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil 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.