SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 28,568 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 77.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,227 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 28,568 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,444,116 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $704,568,000 after purchasing an additional 729,319 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $762,637,000 after acquiring an additional 137,059 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,815,843 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $315,682,000 after acquiring an additional 365,686 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,617 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $103,789,000 after acquiring an additional 98,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,722,505 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $100,678,000 after acquiring an additional 569,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.55.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR traded down $0.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $48.18. 1,019,060 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,920,968. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $32.80 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.67 and a 200-day moving average of $42.48.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $852.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 28.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 over the last quarter. 5.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy Oil Company 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.