Stephens Inc. AR Sells 33,229 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Stephens Inc. AR cut its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,837 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 33,229 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR owned 0.09% of Murphy Oil worth $4,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at about $1,217,000. Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 50.5% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,361,000 after purchasing an additional 103,092 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 605,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $20,431,000 after acquiring an additional 76,487 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 67,246 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 14,181 shares during the period. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $796,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 4.6 %

Murphy Oil stock opened at $28.05 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 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 twelve month low of $25.26 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.21 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 issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.