PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 12.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,501 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,108 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $32.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $30.99 and a 1 year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.92.

About Murphy Oil

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.