Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,570 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 255.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 508,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,433,000 after purchasing an additional 365,011 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.0% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,119,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $60,218,000 after acquiring an additional 794,510 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after acquiring an additional 668,525 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $920,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $107,247,000 after acquiring an additional 312,904 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $39.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.99 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.66. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $42.91.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 194.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MUR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler raised Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

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.