Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Bought by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 399.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 810,104 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.69% of Murphy Oil worth $34,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,261 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 37.7% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,322 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 6,110 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,851 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 121,742 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.25.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.29. The stock had a trading volume of 970,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,654,712. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.32. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $29.84 and a 52-week high of $49.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.71%.

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.