Private Advisor Group LLC Makes New Investment in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,058 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $43,813,000 after purchasing an additional 86,932 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at $24,493,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 990.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,955 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,527,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,091.4% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,464 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $6,063,000 after purchasing an additional 13,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $45,543,000 after purchasing an additional 12,336 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. One investment 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, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at $196,971,533.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of MUSA traded up $11.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $492.01. The stock had a trading volume of 158,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 198,428. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $496.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $476.47. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $552.30. The firm has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.1 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA's payout ratio is currently 7.43%.

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.