State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $2.21 Million Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 23,429 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $2,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 21.8% in 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. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 8.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,468,000 after buying an additional 204,349 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 33.3% in 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,030,794 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $57,695,000 after buying an additional 18,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth approximately $30,896,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $36.98 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.68 and a beta of 0.55. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $20.31 and a one year high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.96 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.Murphy Oil’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Scotiabank raised Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.55.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.79% of the company’s stock.

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.