River Road Asset Management LLC Has $173.83 Million Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 346,445 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 20,946 shares during the period. Murphy USA makes up 2.3% of River Road Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 1.71% of Murphy USA worth $173,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $291,068,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 183,041 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $91,841,000 after acquiring an additional 3,641 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,476.19. The trade was a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA traded up $3.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $469.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 320,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 192,944. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $483.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.48. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $382.04 and a fifty-two 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research 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 given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.