Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,620 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,886 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $515.34 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $509.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.05. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $337.29 and a 52 week high of $552.30.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.55%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 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 $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,971,533.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $464.57.

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.