Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 29.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,620 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,886 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $81,560,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $95,940,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,305,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,543,000 after buying an additional 12,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James raised their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Down 2.3 %

MUSA opened at $515.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $509.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.05. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $337.29 and a 12 month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.