Grace & White Inc. NY Has $4.57 Million Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Grace & White Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 151,052 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY owned about 0.10% of Murphy Oil worth $4,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 90.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MUR. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock opened at $27.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.06. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $25.26 and a 12-month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 44.61%.

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.