Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 612 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.3 %

MUSA stock opened at $473.47 on Thursday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $501.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at $196,971,533.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.