Cibc World Markets Corp Buys New Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,425 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th 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. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,926 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,539,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,610. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $27.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.79. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.92.

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.