Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Holdings Lifted by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 65.0% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 12.9% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,793,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $465,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $527.27 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $334.61 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $506.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $458.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $469.50.

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.