Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 35.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,222 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,337 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 53,469.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $260,231,000 after purchasing an additional 552,872 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $112,741,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,777,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $935,465,000 after purchasing an additional 54,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 363.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 54,471 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,331,000 after buying an additional 42,712 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David C. Haley bought 1,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $435.58 per share, with a total value of $435,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,580. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MUSA. Stephens lowered their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $526.29.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA traded up $9.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $433.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 337,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 230,288. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 0.48. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $385.44 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $429.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $463.10.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.19% and a net margin of 2.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.44%.

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.