Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 486,271 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 606,103 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $16,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 49,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.17.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.1 %

MUR stock opened at $32.78 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.06 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 2.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.42. 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 (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.58%.

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.