ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC Sells 11,676 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 61.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,187 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 11,676 shares during the quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $200,000,000 after purchasing an additional 95,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $164,940,000 after buying an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 298,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $116,029,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at about $93,967,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Stephens decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $429.00.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $456.67 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $523.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $416.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $396.03.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total value of $456,444.45. Following the sale, the director owned 1,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,778.17. The trade was a 42.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total value of $139,669.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.