Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,517 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $1,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $119,755,000 after buying an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after acquiring an additional 58,220 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,008,000 after acquiring an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,824,000 after purchasing an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $28.45 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.92.

Murphy Oil 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.