Assetmark Inc. Buys 1,513 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,753 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $18,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,387,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,122,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,971,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $510.80.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. This represents a 25.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last three months. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $447.95 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $486.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.70. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $382.04 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.79. 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 (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.10%.

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.