2,175 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Purchased by Eisler Capital Management Ltd.

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,175 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Murphy USA by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,230,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 8,938 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,485,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 967 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA opened at $445.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $476.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.07. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $420.92 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Raymond James cut shares of Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.29.

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.