Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires 837,282 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 91.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 837,282 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.20% of Murphy Oil worth $53,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $54,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,831 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 399.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 641.7% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 672,717 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $22,697,000 after acquiring an additional 582,020 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,766,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of 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, Barclays decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $27.71. 2,484,940 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,644,236. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.87 and a 200-day moving average of $33.06. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $25.26 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade 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 insiders.

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.