Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 609 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,516 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,444,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $704,568,000 after purchasing an additional 729,319 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after purchasing an additional 137,059 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,815,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,682,000 after purchasing an additional 365,686 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $103,789,000 after purchasing an additional 98,855 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,722,505 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $100,678,000 after purchasing an additional 569,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Scotiabank downgraded Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.38.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $46.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.55. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The business’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.