Natixis Advisors L.P. Has $7.02 Million Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,568 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 17,556 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.11% of Murphy Oil worth $7,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $89,198,000 after buying an additional 2,038,692 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,172 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $78,554,000 after buying an additional 442,579 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 837,240 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $37,969,000 after buying an additional 348,645 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 837,625 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $37,986,000 after buying an additional 316,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,273,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Murphy Oil 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 directly owns 9,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 over the last three months. 5.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.73 on Friday, reaching $44.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,098,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,948. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.60. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $32.80 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 2.22.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The firm had revenue of $794.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.94 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.64.

About Murphy Oil

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.