United Services Automobile Association Decreases Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

United Services Automobile Association decreased its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,358 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,097 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,408 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,824,000 after acquiring an additional 45,236 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $151,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 109,418 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,043 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $34.04 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $33.15 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 2.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.49.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

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.