Flax Pond Capital LLC Sells 35,700 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Flax Pond Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,256 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 35,700 shares during the period. Murphy Oil makes up approximately 6.2% of Flax Pond Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Flax Pond Capital LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $7,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 105.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,498 shares during the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $30,896,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $21,096,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 33.3% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 514,127 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 946,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $21,301,000 after purchasing an additional 315,199 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of MUR opened at $38.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 64.80 and a beta of 0.52. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.86 and a 12 month high of $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MUR. Wall Street Zen lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

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.