Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,619 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,024 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MUR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 113,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,259 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth $1,022,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth $542,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,709 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 364.6% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 113,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,185,000 after buying an additional 89,032 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $32.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $30.99 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.59. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MUR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.17.

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.