California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 2,199 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.55% of Murphy USA worth $41,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $138,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $1,925,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 31,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,972 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth $4,654,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.60.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total value of $627,415.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,491.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total value of $627,415.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,491.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total transaction of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last ninety days. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $421.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $414.12 and its 200 day moving average is $382.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.93 and a 52-week high of $430.83.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.59%.

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.