Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 671,014 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 62,860 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $19,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,890,000 after buying an additional 34,620 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,214,000 after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $618,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $678,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $22.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.59 and a 200-day moving average of $26.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.09. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $43.02.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Mizuho lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Johnson Rice cut shares of Murphy Oil from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.23.

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.