Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 61.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 821,427 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.47% of Murphy Oil worth $64,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MUR. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $67,619,000 after purchasing an additional 107,871 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 20.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 5.1%

Shares of NYSE MUR traded up $1.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $22.97. 3,117,277 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,173,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.10. 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 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $44.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.51 and its 200-day moving average is $27.84.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The company had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.08.

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.