Meeder Asset Management Inc. Invests $2.23 Million in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 66,142 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,232,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 138.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 29,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 218,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,021,000 after acquiring an additional 38,334 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,859,000 after acquiring an additional 32,411 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,700,000. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 86.5% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 132,710 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 61,537 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.92.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.5 %

Murphy Oil stock opened at $33.00 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $30.99 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

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.