Venturi Wealth Management LLC Invests $202,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,691 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $119,755,000 after acquiring an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.3% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,627,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after buying an additional 58,220 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after buying an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,904,000 after buying an additional 1,577,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.1 %

MUR opened at $27.32 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.26 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.52 and a 200-day moving average of $32.56.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted 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 return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MUR. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.33.

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.