Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,422 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 64,570 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 13,275 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 201,312 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,092,000 after acquiring an additional 6,052 shares during the period. Grace & White Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 151,052 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four 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 an average target price of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 7.6 %

Shares of MUR stock traded down $2.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.47. 3,424,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.27 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.15.

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 the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

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