Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 467,547 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,889,868 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 467,547 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.58% of Murphy Oil worth $511,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in 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 valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 399.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $34,177,000 after buying an additional 810,104 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $50,673,000 after buying an additional 283,695 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 337,769 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,221,000 after buying an additional 150,684 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.92.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.52. 2,817,555 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,918,214. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $22.03 and a one year high of $49.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.56.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted 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 period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

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.