Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New $343,000 Investment in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,337 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUR. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings 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 valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MUR opened at $28.45 on Monday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.69. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,635.50. This represents 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.92.

Murphy Oil 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.