Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 111,500 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 50.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,100 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 111,500 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.23% of Murphy Oil worth $10,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MUR. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 353.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,358 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MUR. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, 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 6.52% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,511,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,080,395. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $18.95 and a 52 week high of $46.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm's fifty day moving average is $24.81 and its 200 day moving average is $28.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.68.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

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.