Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Argent Capital Management LLC

Argent Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $45,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $522,000. Narwhal Capital Management purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $594,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 75,937 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,427,000 after purchasing an additional 11,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadent Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at about $274,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $473.14. 18,337 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 198,477. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $552.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $501.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $472.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

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.