Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,642 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,458 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $3,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,940 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $35.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12-month low of $33.15 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

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.