Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Takes Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $188,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 8.1% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in 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. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MUR. UBS Group reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $28.37 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $25.26 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.62 and a 200-day moving average of $32.66.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.61%.

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.