Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $19,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 183,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,841,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 126,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $61,873,000 after purchasing an additional 11,103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA opened at $459.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $471.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.15.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $525.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total transaction of $360,491.07. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. This represents a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.