Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,166 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 14,204 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of Murphy Oil worth $9,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% in the third 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. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR traded down $2.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,424,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,655,782. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 2.14. The business's fifty day moving average is $29.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $24.27 and a 1 year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

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.