AXQ Capital LP Acquires Shares of 592 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 592 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Murphy USA by 22.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 622.9% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 3,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 in the last ninety days. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Melius started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $525.67.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $3.70 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $461.27. The company had a trading volume of 152,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,655. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $472.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.86. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $382.04 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.10%.

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.