LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Murphy USA worth $6,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 53,469.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $260,231,000 after acquiring an additional 552,872 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,662,000 after acquiring an additional 96,200 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,247 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $106,495,000 after acquiring an additional 41,295 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 144,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,301,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 124,417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,452,000 after acquiring an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $476.29.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at $142,830,015.72. This trade represents a 1.30% increase 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 hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Haley acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $435.58 per share, for a total transaction of $435,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,580. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE MUSA opened at $379.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 0.42. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $409.48 and its 200 day moving average is $450.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.