Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $196 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 17.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 417,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 89,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $196,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,560,000. Argent Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1,359.6% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,813,000 after purchasing an additional 86,932 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 518.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 74,770 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,660,000 after purchasing an additional 62,688 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,493,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,949,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 over the last three months. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $469.50.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $533.25 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $331.46 and a 52-week high of $542.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $505.29 and a 200 day moving average of $458.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change 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.