Jennison Associates LLC Trims Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,362 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after acquiring an additional 137,059 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,937,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,281,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE MUR opened at $46.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.70.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MUR shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In related news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $237,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at $470,447.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil 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.