Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,813 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,398 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 451.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,887 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after purchasing an additional 10,552 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $678,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 28.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,546 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $545.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $497.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $487.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.75. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.92%.

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.