World Investment Advisors Increases Stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 170.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,562 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 12,324 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.3% in 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 buying an additional 114,656 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $67,619,000 after acquiring an additional 107,871 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 61.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $64,986,000 after acquiring an additional 821,427 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $50,673,000 after acquiring an additional 283,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Bank raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 1,658,227 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $50,178,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR traded up $0.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,800,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,376,904. The business's fifty day moving average price is $22.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.40. Murphy Oil Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $43.02. 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 $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.09.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MUR. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.15.

Murphy Oil 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.