Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 149 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,345 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Murphy USA by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,911 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 24.3% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,369,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MUSA opened at $528.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The company has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $496.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.12. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

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.