GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $163,000 Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $46.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 2.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.78 and a 200 day moving average of $42.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $32.80 and a one year 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 the consensus estimate 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%. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 28.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.