Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC Acquires 50,000 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 550,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $17,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the second 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. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $40.64 on Monday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.98. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.88 and a beta of 0.55. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12 month low of $20.31 and a 12 month high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $732.35 million for 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%.Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 237.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.79% of the company’s stock.

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.