2,665 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Acquired by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 14.6% in the 2nd 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $464.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other 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 directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last ninety days. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.7 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $484.26 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $505.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $468.12. The stock has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. Research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.55%.

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.