Geode Capital Management LLC Has $147.41 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management cut its Murphy USA stake by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, but still held 365,214 shares valued at about $147.4 million.
• Murphy USA posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $7.28 versus $5.37 expected and revenue of $4.82 billion, while analysts currently see the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $503.71.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share, and insider selling continued, including a notable sale by Director Robert Madison Murphy of 41,500 shares for about $24.8 million.

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 365,214 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 92,500 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.97% of Murphy USA worth $147,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 20.2% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 138,998 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $53,967,000 after buying an additional 23,349 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,705 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $51,524,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 14.9% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $8,775,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,638 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $24,708,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.71.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 342,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 43,225 shares of company stock worth $25,721,642. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $538.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $529.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $609.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.85%.

Murphy USA 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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