Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 52.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,731 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 12,843 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.08.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $32.50 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $30.99 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Murphy Oil Company 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.