AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC Has $334,000 Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR – Get Rating) by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,491 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 8,805 shares during the quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 57,110 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after buying an additional 20,674 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 36.5% in the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 319,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,223,000 after acquiring an additional 85,300 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Murphy Oil by 425.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 85,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,014,000 after acquiring an additional 69,400 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 145.9% in the third quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 219,275 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,712,000 after acquiring an additional 130,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Oconnor LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth approximately $1,577,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 10,902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $474,237.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,424. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 10,902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $474,237.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,424. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total transaction of $392,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,770.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $36.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 2.38. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $25.97 and a one year high of $51.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $975.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $835.62 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 24.54% and a return on equity of 18.82%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.11.

About Murphy Oil

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Murphy Oil Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Exploration and Production and Corporate and Other segment. The Exploration and Production segment includes the United States, Canada, and all other countries. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on interest income, other gains and losses, interest expense, and unallocated overhead.