JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $18.30 Million Stake in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 644,185 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 180,943 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.45% of Murphy Oil worth $18,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 30.1% during the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $40.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 55.56 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $40.38.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. 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 3.5%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

About Murphy Oil

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.