Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 141,855 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 51,777 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.70% of Murphy USA worth $69,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA stock traded down $4.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $548.94. The stock had a trading volume of 120,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,314. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $500.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $489.98. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.92%.

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.