Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 283,695 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.15% of Murphy Oil worth $50,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.3% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $88,659,000 after buying an additional 58,220 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $56,214,000 after buying an additional 13,263 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,824,000 after acquiring an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,999,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,611. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.92.

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.