38,900 Shares in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 38,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SIR Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $30,896,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $21,096,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,423,000 after purchasing an additional 514,127 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 946,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $21,301,000 after purchasing an additional 315,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,452,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,171,000 after purchasing an additional 294,338 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MUR shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Piper Sandler raised Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.58.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 3.0%

NYSE MUR opened at $31.59 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1 year low of $21.86 and a 1 year high of $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 53.55 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.71 and a 200 day moving average of $35.52.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $732.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.96 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

About Murphy Oil

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.