Benin Management CORP Acquires 439 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Benin Management CORP grew its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,444,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $704,568,000 after purchasing an additional 729,319 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $762,637,000 after acquiring an additional 137,059 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,815,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,682,000 after acquiring an additional 365,686 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $103,789,000 after acquiring an additional 98,855 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,722,505 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $100,678,000 after buying an additional 569,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.9 %

MUR traded down $0.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $48.52. 391,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,911,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.48 and a 200 day moving average of $42.44. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $32.80 and a 12-month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The firm had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 28.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 in the last three months. 5.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.55.

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.