Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 3,044 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 3,044 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.05% of Murphy Oil worth $3,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the first quarter worth approximately $141,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MUR shares. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.27.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.36. 1,120,710 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,618,588. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 2.26. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $36.95 and a one year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.94 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.