Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Holdings Lifted by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 612 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 56 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,336 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $473.47 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $501.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $472.48. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $350.55 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at $203,955,423.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.