Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $138,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in Murphy USA by 40.6% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 31,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,972 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter worth $4,654,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,797,249.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $420.54 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.93 and a 12 month high of $430.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $414.12 and a 200-day moving average of $382.91.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.59%.

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.