JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $18.30 Million Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 644,185 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 180,943 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $18,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Murphy Oil by 255.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 508,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,433,000 after buying an additional 365,011 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,119,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $60,218,000 after acquiring an additional 794,510 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after acquiring an additional 668,525 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $920,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $107,247,000 after purchasing an additional 312,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MUR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays upgraded Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $40.01 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.56 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $40.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 194.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.