Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 64,826 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 42.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 87,204 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 64,826 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $2,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 494.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $34.87 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.15 and its 200 day moving average is $29.81. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $36.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.43 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 194.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUR. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $29.42.

Murphy Oil Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.