Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes $3.77 Million Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 124,541 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,769,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.09% of Murphy Oil at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $84,948,000 after acquiring an additional 114,656 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 5.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 107,871 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $64,986,000 after purchasing an additional 821,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $56,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MUR. Mizuho cut shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.23.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.52. 1,783,710 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,502. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.70. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $18.95 and a 12 month high of $43.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. Murphy Oil's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.04%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.