Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,796 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,350 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Murphy Oil worth $8,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 68.2% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 7,940.0% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $45.29 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.57. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $32.80 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The company’s revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank lowered Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Murphy Oil 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.