20,301 Shares in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 20,301 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 177.8% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,725 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,131,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,407,874. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $23.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.19. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.95 and a 52 week high of $41.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.46.

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.