Barclays PLC Sells 19,670 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Barclays PLC lessened its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 405,148 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 19,670 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 2.18% of Murphy USA worth $163,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Enhancing Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 568 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $585.48 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $541.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The stock has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

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.

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