New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New $3.15 Million Investment in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 104,034 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,148,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $188,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,337 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $28.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MUR. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.92.

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.