Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 3,039 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,053 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,039 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after purchasing an additional 137,059 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.0% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,566,887 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $116,408,000 after purchasing an additional 121,795 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $89,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,692 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,946,095 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,255,000 after purchasing an additional 99,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 34.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,172 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,554,000 after purchasing an additional 442,579 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total transaction of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Scotiabank cut Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $46.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.44%.

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.