ProShare Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.7% in the second quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,640 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 15,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,418,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $799,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, Davidson Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 20.4% in the second quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $496.39 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $509.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.95. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $339.96 and a 52-week high of $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

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.