Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 237,345 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 42.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 325,530 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 237,345 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $7,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mustard Seed Financial LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the first quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC now owns 17,861 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 87,933 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 54,433 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $32.07 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.77. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $34.52. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $440.08 million for the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 132.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MUR. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $28.50.

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.