California Public Employees Retirement System Has $20.42 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 7,766 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.22% of Murphy USA worth $20,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 148.5% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 500 shares in the company, valued at $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.2%

MUSA stock opened at $618.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $564.57 and a 200-day moving average of $496.66.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUSA. KeyCorp raised their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $585.11.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.