7,517 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Purchased by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,517 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,680,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $369,208,000 after purchasing an additional 140,879 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $105,389,000 after purchasing an additional 72,537 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,241,000 after purchasing an additional 269,159 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,574 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $65,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $56,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total transaction of $2,837,410.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,700.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Murphy USA news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total value of $503,830.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares in the company, valued at $8,797,249.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total transaction of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582. Insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1 %

MUSA traded down $0.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $420.54. The company had a trading volume of 171,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,923. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.93 and a 12 month high of $430.83. The business's fifty day moving average price is $413.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.65. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.79 by $1.21. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The business's revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.4 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA's payout ratio is presently 6.59%.

About Murphy USA

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.