14,296 Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Purchased by Titleist Asset Management LLC

Titleist Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,296 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $529,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 38,923 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 9,048 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,390 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 28,180 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 28,065 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John B. Gardner sold 10,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.95, for a total value of $429,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $854,490.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Murphy Oil news, VP John B. Gardner sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.95, for a total value of $429,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $854,490.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $4,330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,499,831 shares in the company, valued at $64,942,682.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MUR. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.90.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $45.86 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $31.90 and a 52 week high of $51.28. The firm has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $814.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $779.77 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 25.86% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.03%.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and natural 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.