Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Position Reduced by Summit Investment Advisors Inc.

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 45.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,154 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 35,240 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $119,755,000 after buying an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $84,948,000 after acquiring an additional 114,656 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 283,695 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MUR. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.85.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.52% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded up $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.42. 2,793,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,070. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 1.68. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $18.95 and a 12 month high of $46.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.11 and a 200-day moving average of $29.12. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.