Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 173 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 144.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 622.9% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA opened at $452.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $480.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $500.46. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.04 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $525.67.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.