Axa S.A. Acquires 34,353 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

AXA S.A. increased its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 183,221 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 34,353 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.13% of Murphy Oil worth $5,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MUR. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,890,000 after buying an additional 34,620 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $618,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $678,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $23.11. 805,846 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,164,272. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.91. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $44.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.