Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 150,684 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 80.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 337,769 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 150,684 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.23% of Murphy Oil worth $10,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MUR. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 15.3% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 51,295 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 6,812 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 17.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 195,183 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,585,000 after purchasing an additional 28,867 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 220,497 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,440,000 after buying an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded up $1.01 on Wednesday, hitting $27.11. The company had a trading volume of 2,707,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,743,903. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.25 and a 200-day moving average of $31.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio 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.