Moran Wealth Management LLC Has $19.06 Million Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 46,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $19,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 2,594.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,731,000 after acquiring an additional 136,766 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $241,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $3,683,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 21.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MUSA. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $483.17.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $376.42 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The stock has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $383.87 and a 200-day moving average of $423.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The business had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.92 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Murphy USA Company 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.