Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Stake Boosted by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,247 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 41,295 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.05% of Murphy USA worth $106,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,838 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,890 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 over the last 90 days. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lowered Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $526.29.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.8 %

Murphy USA stock traded down $7.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $436.07. 388,066 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 204,862. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $408.15 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $476.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $494.27.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). The firm 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 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Murphy USA's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is 8.26%.

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.