Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stock Position Increased by Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $3,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $113,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MUR shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.31.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This 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.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MUR opened at $26.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year 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 return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.