Private Advisor Group LLC Buys Shares of 1,058 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,058 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 12,336 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $480.22 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $350.55 and a 12 month high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $496.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $476.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James upped their price objective on 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 downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.