Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 61,157 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 733,874 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 61,157 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.50% of Murphy Oil worth $22,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.58.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.84 on Friday, reaching $32.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,743,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,528,562. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business's 50-day moving average price is $31.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 2.17. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

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.