New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 815,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,666 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $24,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 399.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,177,000 after purchasing an additional 810,104 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at $8,766,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $27.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $25.26 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.