Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 38.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 14,239 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUR. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.92.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $33.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $30.99 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 2.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.67.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Murphy Oil Company 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.