Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 621 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 63.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 312,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,444,000 after acquiring an additional 121,099 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth $338,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 337,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,221,000 after buying an additional 150,684 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,805 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,926 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.31.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

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

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $28.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.79. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.