CSM Advisors LLC Increases Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

CSM Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 26.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,510 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,856 shares during the quarter. CSM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $6,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $55,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 5.9%

Shares of MUR opened at $36.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.39. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $36.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 194.44%.

Murphy Oil News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Crude rally / Middle East supply-risk premium: Oil prices have stayed elevated amid renewed geopolitical risk in the Middle East, prompting a rotation into upstream names. Murphy’s cash flows are closely tied to crude, so the stock typically amplifies moves in oil. Murphy Oil jumps as crude stays elevated
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgrade: Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy to an overweight/buy on rising oil prices, which can attract demand from model-driven and institutional buyers. Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised rating to equal-weight and lifted its target to $33, trimming a prior underweight stance — a modest vote of confidence that supports the stock in the current oil-driven rally. Barclays upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $33 recently and other analysts (e.g., Piper Sandler) have lifted targets — analyst support combined with higher oil tends to boost sentiment. Goldman Sachs price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: Murphy recently raised its quarterly dividend (latest $0.35), which improves income appeal and can provide support during sector upswings. MarketBeat: dividend and company summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed institutional flows: Large funds show both meaningful additions (FMR added millions of shares) and sizable reductions from others; this churn can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous for longer-term direction. QuiverQuant: institutional & hedge fund activity
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Daniel Hanchera sold 47,320 shares (~$1.6M) in early March and reduced his holding materially; large insider sales can create near-term selling pressure or raise governance questions for some investors. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst consensus / targets still mixed and average targets remain below the current share price: while a few firms raised targets, the median analyst target is around the low $30s and several firms maintain hold/underweight ratings — a reminder of upside limits if oil cools. MarketBeat: analyst coverage & targets

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MUR. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.45.

About Murphy Oil

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.