Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 55.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 486,271 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 606,103 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.32% of Murphy Oil worth $16,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.17.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.1 %

MUR traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.78. 1,156,364 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,475. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $32.06 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.36.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.43%.

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.