Cambria Investment Management L.P. Sells 17,616 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Cambria Investment Management L.P. cut its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,068 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 17,616 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. owned 0.18% of Murphy Oil worth $7,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Murphy Oil by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in Murphy Oil by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research raised Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.82.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.9%

NYSE MUR opened at $38.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.10 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $38.37. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.00 and a 200-day moving average of $30.65.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 194.44%.

Murphy Oil Company 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.