Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 62,689 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,667,192 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 62,689 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Murphy USA worth $647,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 1,925.0% during the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 251.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $457.50.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $391.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $413.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $392.74. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 10.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.09, for a total value of $470,643.71. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,288,355.43. This represents a 17.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,935 shares of company stock worth $4,248,945. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.