Simmons Bank Acquires 16,975 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Simmons Bank grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 38.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,643 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 16,975 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:MUR traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,389,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,369,426. Murphy Oil Corporation 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 0.28, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business's 50 day moving average is $22.68 and its 200 day moving average is $25.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.09.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.15.

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.