William Blair Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,802 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Murphy USA worth $35,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 423 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,963 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 15,377 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $7,715,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 348 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $234,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $525.67.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.4 %

MUSA stock traded up $1.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $440.45. 342,738 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 194,130. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.04 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The firm's 50 day moving average is $474.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.37. The stock has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is 8.10%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Murphy USA

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.