Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Purchased by Meridian Management Co.

Meridian Management Co. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,452 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 6.8% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Murphy USA by 17.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,669 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,573,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James increased their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $522.42 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.