EMC Capital Management Sells 3,092 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

EMC Capital Management lessened its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 38.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,092 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,989.7% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1,710.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,666 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 148.1% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 494.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research raised Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock opened at $30.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.41 and a 200-day moving average of $25.32. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $34.52.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $440.08 million during the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.65%.

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.