Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,427 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,598 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc. owned about 0.15% of Murphy USA worth $11,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Murphy USA by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 96,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,312,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,925,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 31,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,623,000 after buying an additional 8,972 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,180,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $408.60.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $82,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $82,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total value of $503,830.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares in the company, valued at $8,797,249.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,645 shares of company stock worth $4,326,582. 9.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $441.74. 26,414 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 220,113. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $418.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $390.66. The company has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $268.69 and a 12-month high of $447.91.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.97). Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.45% and a net margin of 2.43%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 25.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.39%.

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.