Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Buys New Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $188,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $119,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,432 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $88,659,000 after purchasing an additional 58,220 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR opened at $28.37 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $25.26 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

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.