Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,149 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,522 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.54% of Murphy USA worth $30,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at $51,918,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 379,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $106,194,000 after buying an additional 164,519 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 355,479 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $99,371,000 after acquiring an additional 80,791 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,650,681 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $728,697,000 after acquiring an additional 80,089 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Murphy USA by 824.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 83,906 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $23,455,000 after acquiring an additional 74,825 shares during the last quarter. 85.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
MUSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $325.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.60.
Insider Activity at Murphy USA
In other news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total value of $156,183.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,129.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total value of $156,183.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,129.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.72, for a total transaction of $298,549.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,849,892.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,628 shares of company stock worth $455,611 over the last 90 days. 9.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Murphy USA Trading Down 0.1 %
Shares of MUSA stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $289.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 70,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,623. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $221.06 and a one year high of $323.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.16.
Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.95 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 86.87% and a net margin of 2.68%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 20.22 EPS for the current year.
Murphy USA Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 5.67%.
Murphy USA Profile
Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas.
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