257,823 Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Acquired by M&G Plc

M&G PLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 257,823 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $8,766,000. M&G PLC owned about 0.18% of Murphy Oil as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 49,437 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MUR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.17.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.61. 2,560,384 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,423,415. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 2.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.46. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.99 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

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.