Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 107,179 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 107,179 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $53,777,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.53% of Murphy USA as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,444 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,230,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 967 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $525.67.

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Murphy USA Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $469.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $382.04 and a 52-week high of $561.08. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $483.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.48.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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