Invesco Ltd. Acquires 124,353 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,425,706 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 124,353 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.98% of Murphy Oil worth $43,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in 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 last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 283,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of MUR stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,793,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,070. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $25.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 1.68. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $46.91.

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

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. 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 6.07%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.85.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

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

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.