Axa S.A. Has $2.35 Million Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Axa S.A. reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,008 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 14,979 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 29.1% during the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 135.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in Murphy USA by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,640 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 15,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,418,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth $799,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $464.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.5 %

MUSA opened at $492.26 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $339.96 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $509.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $464.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during 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%. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.55%.

About Murphy USA

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.