Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 787,897 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 132,234 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.54% of Murphy Oil worth $26,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 51,812 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 9,370 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 76.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 15,216 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 6,604 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth approximately $1,439,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the first quarter worth approximately $974,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.0% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 80,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,661,000 after buying an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.08.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $32.50 on Monday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $30.99 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 2.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.90.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Murphy Oil Company 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.