Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 44,345 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 41.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 44,345 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.6% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,700,148 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $128,253,000 after purchasing an additional 89,382 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $107,247,000 after buying an additional 312,904 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,751,712 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,414,000 after buying an additional 118,689 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 44.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,068,290 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,037,000 after acquiring an additional 950,630 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 13.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,452,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,171,000 after acquiring an additional 294,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $29.58.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock opened at $30.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.49. Murphy Oil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $35.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 41.76 and a beta of 0.78.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 180.56%.

Murphy Oil News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat on EPS: Murphy reported $0.14/share, beating the consensus loss and surprising to the upside — supportive for near-term earnings sentiment. Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike: Murphy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (7.7% increase) implying a ~4.5% yield — raises cash return to shareholders and supports income-oriented buyers.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $32, reflecting some analyst optimism on valuation/upside. Wells Fargo PT
• Positive Sentiment: Operational upside: Coverage highlighting a successful appraisal well and follow‑on potential could support longer‑term production expectations. Appraisal Well
• Neutral Sentiment: Company disclosures: The full Q4 earnings presentation and transcript are available for investors who want detail on cash flow, capex and guidance; useful for modeling but not a single headline mover. Earnings Transcript Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported net profit: Local coverage notes a $11.9M quarterly profit — confirms profitability but magnitude is modest relative to market cap. Profit Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry developments (new offshore deals/discoveries in Morocco and Vietnam) may influence regional exploration sentiment but are not company‑specific catalysts. Morocco Deal Vietnam Discovery
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss and market reaction: Q4 revenue came in below estimates, which analysts flagged and which triggered an intra‑day selloff. Revenue Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgrade: Barclays cut its rating to “underweight” and lowered its price target to $29, citing downside versus current levels — a clear near‑term headwind for sentiment. Barclays Downgrade TickerReport

Murphy Oil Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.