EntryPoint Capital LLC Invests $477,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,776 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $113,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Murphy Oil by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,337 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.92.

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Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.45. 2,999,068 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,893,611. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $22.90 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.