Meeder Asset Management Inc. Makes New $2.23 Million Investment in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 66,142 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,232,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 51,812 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 9,370 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 76.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 15,216 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 6,604 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the first quarter worth approximately $974,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 138.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 29,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $372,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.5 %

MUR opened at $33.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 2.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.82. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $30.99 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.92.

About Murphy Oil

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.