Xponance Inc. Has $810,000 Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Xponance Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,648 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,264 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. 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 valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.82.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $33.73 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.89 and a 200-day moving average of $41.03. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $32.53 and a 1 year 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

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.