Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 904,449 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 116,552 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $27,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $1,217,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,214,000 after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 50.5% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,361,000 after buying an additional 103,092 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 605,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,431,000 after buying an additional 76,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 67,246 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,268,000 after buying an additional 14,181 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $25.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 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 firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

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.