JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 644,185 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 180,943 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.45% of Murphy Oil worth $18,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MUR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 494.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% in the second 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 period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock opened at $34.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.08 and a 200-day moving average of $29.73. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.30 and a beta of 0.72. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $35.27.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $29.42.

Murphy Oil Company 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.