Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 413,735 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. reduced its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,338,002 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 413,735 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.94% of Murphy Oil worth $38,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 821,427 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,529,528 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $46,284,000 after purchasing an additional 794,730 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 886,485.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 594,012 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $17,976,000 after purchasing an additional 593,945 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 418.9% in the 4th quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 645,252 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $19,525,000 after buying an additional 520,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $11,023,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.16 on Wednesday, reaching $25.18. 1,382,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,293,573. 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 $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50 day moving average is $21.82 and its 200-day moving average is $26.06. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.95 and a one year high of $43.02.

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 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 firm 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 company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Mizuho cut shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.23.

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.