Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Free Report) by 53.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,515 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,529 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.56.
Insider Transactions at Murphy USA
In other news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.
Murphy USA Price Performance
Murphy USA stock opened at $611.32 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $560.87 and a 200-day moving average of $488.02. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $636.04.
Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current year.
Murphy USA Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.85%.
About Murphy USA
Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.
The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.
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