Prudential Financial Inc. Has $597,000 Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 51.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,136 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,207 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the business's 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. The trade was 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $539.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA traded up $32.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $514.54. 577,174 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 204,424. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $468.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.46. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $382.04 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The company has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 0.73.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

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.