Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $6.19 Million Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 188.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,520 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 133,640 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 0.14% of Murphy Oil worth $6,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 28.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.32. 2,965,084 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,771,622. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $25.26 and a one year high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 2.14. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $29.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.54.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid 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 is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.