Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR Stock Holdings Lowered by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,006,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 57,820 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $85,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CSM Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 26.5% in the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 233,510 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 48,856 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at $308,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 245,222 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,746 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 33.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 514,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 200,142 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,686,000 after acquiring an additional 43,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

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

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $36.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 0.72. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.43. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $36.90.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The company’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost 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 currently 194.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MUR. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

Murphy Oil Company 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.