Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires 329,521 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 92.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 687,254 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 329,521 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.45% of Murphy Oil worth $28,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $340,400,000 after purchasing an additional 262,256 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $125,100,000 after buying an additional 195,906 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,138,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,212,000 after buying an additional 107,462 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,132,305 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,746,000 after buying an additional 212,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,050,000 after acquiring an additional 518,904 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.5 %

Murphy Oil stock opened at $34.41 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $33.15 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 33.43%.

About Murphy Oil

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.