Marshall Wace LLP Trims Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 88.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,435 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 115,699 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $84,948,000 after buying an additional 114,656 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in 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 worth $50,673,000 after purchasing an additional 283,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third 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 institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUR. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.23.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $20.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,435,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,156,115. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $23.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $45.30.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

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.