WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 41,881 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd cut its Murphy Oil stake by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 41,881 shares and leaving it with 348,726 shares worth about $10.9 million.
• Murphy Oil recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.32 EPS versus the $0.29 consensus and revenue of $732.35 million, up 9% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but mostly cautious: the stock has a Hold consensus rating and $37.75 average price target, though KeyCorp recently upgraded it to Overweight with a $48 target.

WINTON GROUP Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 348,726 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 41,881 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned about 0.24% of Murphy Oil worth $10,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 245.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,677 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. KeyCorp raised Murphy Oil from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.75.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $38.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company's 50-day moving average is $39.13 and its 200-day moving average is $34.96. Murphy Oil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.86 and a fifty-two week high of $43.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 65.49 and a beta of 0.50.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The business had revenue of $732.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is 237.29%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Murphy Oil

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple earnings forecasts for Murphy Oil, including FY2026, FY2027, and several quarterly periods, suggesting analysts see improving profitability ahead. Article: Why Murphy Oil (MUR) is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Murphy Oil’s post-earnings momentum remains constructive, with one report noting the stock has gained since its last earnings release and questioning whether that strength can continue. Article: Murphy Oil (MUR) Up 4.4% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?
• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha highlighted that Wall Street is increasingly catching on to Murphy Oil’s story, which may be supporting investor interest in the name. Article: Murphy Oil: Wall Street Catches On
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary is split: Zacks Research and KeyCorp both kept neutral-to-bullish ratings overall, but they made mixed changes to future EPS estimates, signaling uncertainty about the pace of earnings growth.
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp trimmed its Q2 and Q3 2027 EPS estimates for Murphy Oil, which may be tempering enthusiasm despite its Overweight rating and $48 price target.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company's operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil's exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.

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