Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 3,424 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,211 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,424 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth about $81,560,000. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 1,359.6% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,813,000 after acquiring an additional 86,932 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Murphy USA by 518.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 74,770 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,660,000 after acquiring an additional 62,688 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $24,493,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,949,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $496.47 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $338.80 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $510.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results 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. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA 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.