Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 35.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,503 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stephens reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.71.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $604.14 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $476.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.14. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $605.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 30.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.71%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total transaction of $456,444.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,543 shares in the company, valued at $609,778.17. This represents a 42.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total value of $343,894.47. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 6,952 shares of company stock valued at $2,705,540 over the last three months. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.