KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 28,700 Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 28,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 466,477 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,116,000 after acquiring an additional 88,072 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,673,000 after acquiring an additional 283,695 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 185,171 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,603,000 after acquiring an additional 21,438 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $28.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

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.