Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Purchases 2,115 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 45.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,736 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $935,465,000 after buying an additional 54,658 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,364 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $6,204,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $583,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $2,960,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock traded down $11.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $470.95. 338,775 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 201,280. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $382.04 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $493.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 0.73.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is 8.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA 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. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. This trade represents a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.