Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $678,000 Investment in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,392 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $678,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $188,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.86. 1,910,774 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,743,557. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 2.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

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Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 5.23%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MUR. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.46.

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.