Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $379.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $384.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.12. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly 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. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $483.17.

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.