Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,544 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 11,318 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the 3rd 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 period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $2.02 on Monday, reaching $24.47. 2,880,977 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,475. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $24.27 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.