Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 948 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,805 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.5% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:MUR opened at $26.73 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.46.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.