Poplar Forest Capital LLC Sells 98,115 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 339,708 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 98,115 shares during the quarter. Murphy Oil comprises 1.9% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $10,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $26.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.30. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $25.26 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 2.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.