Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 204,796 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,350 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $8,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 4.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,444,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $704,568,000 after buying an additional 729,319 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $762,637,000 after buying an additional 137,059 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Murphy Oil by 4.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,815,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,682,000 after buying an additional 365,686 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $103,789,000 after buying an additional 98,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Murphy Oil by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,722,505 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $100,678,000 after buying an additional 569,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $45.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $32.80 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73 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). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The business had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.69 EPS 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 paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 28.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. Insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil 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.