Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stake Lifted by HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 418.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 645,252 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 520,894 shares during the quarter. Murphy Oil accounts for approximately 1.4% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned 0.44% of Murphy Oil worth $19,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $34,177,000 after purchasing an additional 810,104 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank decreased 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 research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.23.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,727,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.95 and a fifty-two week high of $46.91. The firm's fifty day moving average is $25.11 and its 200-day moving average is $29.12. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.68.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.25%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.