First Affirmative Financial Network Lowers Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

First Affirmative Financial Network trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 14.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,519 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,305,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Murphy USA by 14.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $45,543,000 after buying an additional 12,336 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price 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. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $490.03 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $505.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $469.03. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.55%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Company 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.