Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Boosts Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 597.6% in the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 71,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after purchasing an additional 60,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $33.81 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $27.75 and a 1-year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $758.33 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.58.

Murphy Oil Company 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.