Daniel Hanchera Sells 47,320 Shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) SVP Daniel Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $36.78 on Friday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $36.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 194.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

Key Murphy Oil News

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

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.