Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Down 4.1% – Should You Sell?

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)’s share price was down 4.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $23.49 and last traded at $23.43. Approximately 603,341 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 2,628,317 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.7 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.97. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72 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.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.52%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 8.1% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.