Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 13,263 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.27% of Murphy Oil worth $56,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,337 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 188.5% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 204,520 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,189,000 after purchasing an additional 133,640 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 815,326 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $24,672,000 after buying an additional 8,666 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $24.08. 5,810,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,756,803. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 2.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Company 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.