Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $464,000 Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV cut its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR – Get Rating) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,789 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $279,520,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 41,672 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, Credit Suisse AG increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 13.9% in the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 293,798 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,333,000 after purchasing an additional 35,872 shares in the last quarter. 77.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Mireles sold 14,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.14, for a total value of $509,530.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,192.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $36.14 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $25.97 and a 12-month high of $51.28. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.58.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $841.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.23 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.63%.

Murphy Oil Profile

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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.