BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 44.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,483 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 16,752 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.31.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $22.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.10. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $18.95 and a 1-year high of $43.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $23.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.89%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.