Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 312,072 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 121,099 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.21% of Murphy Oil worth $9,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $34,177,000 after buying an additional 810,104 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 337,769 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,221,000 after buying an additional 150,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 188.5% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 204,520 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 133,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was 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.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MUR stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $27.76. 2,088,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,390. 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 $27.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MUR. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.31.

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.