International Assets Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

International Assets Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 97.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,579,231 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.58.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $32.75 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $27.75 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.02. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 2.17.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.