State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Purchases 13,275 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,570 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,275 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.5% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 266.8% during 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 period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the business's 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 purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.48. 2,485,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,635,004. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $25.26 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $29.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.30.

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 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 last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.38.

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.