Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 24,297 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,180,428 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 24,297 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $26,560,000 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. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 489.1% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 399,104 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 331,355 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.4% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 134,575 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,851,000 after buying an additional 13,759 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 5.8% during the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 1,754,353 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,824,000 after buying an additional 96,126 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $2,731,000. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the first quarter valued at $2,840,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $31.51 on Wednesday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $34.52. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.The company had revenue of $440.08 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $28.50.

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.