Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 72,743 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 21.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 273,793 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 72,743 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Murphy Oil worth $7,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 148.1% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 494.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $100,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MUR shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $29.08.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $31.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.12 and its 200 day moving average is $27.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98 and a beta of 0.81. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $34.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.16%.The company had revenue of $440.08 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 132.65%.

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.