Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 248.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,240 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 186.1% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 103 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 in the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of MUSA traded down $11.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $470.95. 338,775 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 201,280. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $471.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $493.26. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 0.73. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share 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, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

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.