Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 83,945 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,033,207 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 83,945 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $32,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. SIR Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,896,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,096,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after acquiring an additional 668,525 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,423,000 after acquiring an additional 514,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 255.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 508,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,433,000 after acquiring an additional 365,011 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $36.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 61.85 and a beta of 0.55. Murphy Oil Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.75 and a twelve month high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.96 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 237.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.