Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 16.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 930 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $496.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $510.17 and its 200-day moving average is $461.19. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $338.80 and a 52-week high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MUSA. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

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.