Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,041 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 164,568 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 17,556 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 330,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,100 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $304,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,408 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,824,000 after buying an additional 45,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lowered Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Mizuho increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $37.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.72. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $35.61 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 33.43%.

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.