Simmons Bank Buys 13,262 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Simmons Bank lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 43.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,262 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted 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 worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MUR. Mizuho lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $26.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 2.14. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.34. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.26 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 company posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % 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.

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.