Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $12.51 Million Stake in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 32.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 400,304 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 187,979 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $12,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MUR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 30.1% during the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $42.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.89 and a 200-day moving average of $31.35. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.36 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $42.51.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 194.44%.

Murphy Oil Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.