Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,372 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $5,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,669,000. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth about $369,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 29.5% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,445 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,924 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at $534,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $237,660.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $237,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MUR. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $46.16 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.62. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $32.80 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS 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 business had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $852.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

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.