Signaturefd LLC Buys 156 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 58.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 423 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 183,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $91,841,000 after acquiring an additional 3,641 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $440.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.04 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $474.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $497.29.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 8.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Melius began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.67.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related 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 transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Company 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.