Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 678 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $222,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 863 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Murphy USA by 22.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $459.50 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $382.04 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $470.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. 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%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. 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.