Applied Capital LLC FL Buys 1,227 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 180.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,906 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $769,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 29.2% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the second quarter worth $93,967,000. Claret Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 7.7% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 599 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $495.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.22. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $404.81. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $523.09.

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

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 10.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.61, for a total transaction of $1,105,206.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,198,084.63. This represents a 47.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $447.33.

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.