PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 4,108 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,501 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,108 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 641.7% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 672,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $22,697,000 after acquiring an additional 582,020 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,050,000 after acquiring an additional 518,904 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 92.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 687,254 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,342,000 after purchasing an additional 329,521 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $340,400,000 after purchasing an additional 262,256 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $32.53 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.49 and its 200 day moving average is $37.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $30.99 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.92.

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.