Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $5.25 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,372 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.08% of Murphy Oil worth $5,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUR. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MUR shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Scotiabank cut Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.2 %

MUR opened at $46.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 2.21. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.62. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $32.80 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares in the company, valued at $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $470,447.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.