South Dakota Investment Council Has $2.84 Million Position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,997 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,600 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.07% of Murphy Oil worth $2,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $84,948,000 after acquiring an additional 114,656 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $67,619,000 after buying an additional 107,871 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $64,986,000 after buying an additional 821,427 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $50,673,000 after acquiring an additional 283,695 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 1,658,227 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $50,178,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.46.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR opened at $24.49 on Friday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.95 and a fifty-two week high of $41.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.35 and a 200 day moving average of $25.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.09.

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, 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 business had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

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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