Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 41.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,198 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth about $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 622.9% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 over the last quarter. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock 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. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $382.04 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $479.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $499.93. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. 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%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.67.

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.