Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $31.77 Million Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 744,763 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 21,700 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.48% of Murphy Oil worth $31,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth $163,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at $213,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.61. 1,004,821 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,780,795. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $44.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.57.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $794.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.94 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.40%. The company's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.64 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.64.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at $470,447.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Murphy Oil news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.