Cibc World Markets Corp Invests $406,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the third 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 buying an additional 45,432 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after buying an additional 58,220 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,214,000 after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in 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 valued at $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock opened at $26.73 on Monday. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $22.90 and a one year high of $49.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUR. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.31.

Murphy Oil 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.