Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stock Position Boosted by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,171 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 21,438 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Murphy Oil worth $5,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,916 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,695 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,552 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,230,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 54,739 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,155,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,784,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 2.18.

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Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.31.

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.