Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE cut its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 2,594.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,731,000 after purchasing an additional 136,766 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $241,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $40,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $3,683,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 21.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $477.33.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy acquired 5,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 389,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,830,015.72. This represents a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $377.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $384.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.69. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%.The firm had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.