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

Simmons Bank increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 43.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,262 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the third 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 buying an additional 833 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $26.94 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

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.