Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 205,300 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 18.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 927,005 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 205,300 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.61% of Murphy Oil worth $38,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,758,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Murphy Oil by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,053 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,039 shares during the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 122,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 22,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth $163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Barclays cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy Oil from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.36.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.43. 1,785,761 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,644,366. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $35.61 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.