Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $2.17 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 10.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 worth $102,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,560,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $43,813,000 after acquiring an additional 86,932 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $469.50.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA opened at $527.27 on Wednesday. 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 $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $506.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.89. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $334.61 and a one year high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

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

Murphy USA 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.