Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Has $441,000 Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 621 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 63.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 312,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,444,000 after acquiring an additional 121,099 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth about $338,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 337,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,221,000 after purchasing an additional 150,684 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Murphy Oil by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,805 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,926 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,087,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.31.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $28.33 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

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.