Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 411 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 4.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,968 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 411 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in 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 a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.92.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR opened at $33.40 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $30.99 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

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.