Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 127,107 Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 127,107 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Murphy Oil at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth approximately $200,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $188,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,337 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.92.

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Insider Activity

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.45. 2,999,068 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,893,611. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.69. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

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.