Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 959 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Murphy Oil by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 51,295 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 6,812 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 220,497 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 276.2% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 108,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 79,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted 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 period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.46.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.6 %

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

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

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

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.