First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 24.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 942,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 187,610 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.66% of Murphy Oil worth $38,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,420 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,826,000 after acquiring an additional 29,689 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 550,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,188,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,745,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 138.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,936 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 20,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,967,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MUR. KeyCorp raised Murphy Oil from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.33.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.7%

MUR stock opened at $37.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 63.55 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.99. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $21.86 and a one year high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.96 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

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.