Virtu Financial LLC Has $986,000 Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 230.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MUSA. Weiss Ratings lowered Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.14.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $550.85 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $545.82 and its 200 day moving average is $468.45. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.3 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last ninety days. 9.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.