Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 132,234 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 14.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 787,897 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 132,234 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $26,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 51,812 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 9,370 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 15,216 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 6,604 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,439,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth approximately $974,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.0% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 80,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,661,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $32.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $30.99 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.90.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.08.

About Murphy Oil

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.