MQS Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 47.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $36.02 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $33.15 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 2.21.

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

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Murphy Oil’s 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.