Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 187,979 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400,304 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 187,979 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.28% of Murphy Oil worth $12,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SIR Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,896,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,119,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,218,000 after purchasing an additional 794,510 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth $21,096,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after buying an additional 668,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 33.3% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,423,000 after buying an additional 514,127 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $42.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 58.36 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.35. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $42.51.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The firm had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUR. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

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.