ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 13,222 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,815 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 13,222 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% in the 4th 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 position in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $67,619,000 after purchasing an additional 107,871 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 821,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.08. 284,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,203,488. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $18.95 and a 1-year high of $43.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.13. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho downgraded Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Johnson Rice downgraded Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.