Duality Advisers LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Duality Advisers LP lowered its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 50.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,419 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 24,987 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $1,669,000. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $369,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,445 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $534,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, 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 transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MUR shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MUR opened at $46.16 on Wednesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $32.80 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.62.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The business’s revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

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.