Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 824 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 213.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 6,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at about $2,016,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at about $593,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Murphy USA by 7.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,407 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,670,297 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $533,953,000 after acquiring an additional 35,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MUSA. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $395.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.60.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total value of $627,415.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,098,491.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total transaction of $627,415.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,098,491.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.73% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MUSA opened at $415.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $409.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $379.44. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.49 and a 1-year high of $430.83. The stock has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $1.21. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.59%.

Murphy USA Company 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.