Flax Pond Capital LLC Makes New $6.97 Million Investment in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Flax Pond Capital LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 222,956 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,967,000. Murphy Oil accounts for approximately 5.1% of Flax Pond Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,933,059 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $247,912,000 after buying an additional 231,253 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,572,610 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $174,144,000 after buying an additional 143,125 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $106,163,000 after buying an additional 668,525 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 8.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,468,000 after acquiring an additional 204,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Murphy Oil by 33.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,423,000 after acquiring an additional 514,127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MUR. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.75.

Murphy Oil News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research lifted Murphy Oil’s earnings forecasts across multiple periods, including higher estimates for 2026, 2027, and 2028, which supports the outlook for future earnings growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research kept a Hold rating on Murphy Oil, suggesting analysts are more constructive on earnings but not yet highly bullish on the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Murphy Oil is being pulled down with other energy names, indicating that sector sentiment is weighing on the shares more than company-specific fundamentals right now. APA Corporation, Murphy Oil, and Calumet stocks trade down, what you need to know

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $34.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.33 and its 200-day moving average is $35.41. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.86 and a 1-year high of $43.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.03 and a beta of 0.50.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The business had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 237.29%.

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.