Xponance Inc. Has $1.87 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,733 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 183,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,841,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MUSA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $525.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $440.45 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $474.38 and its 200-day moving average is $497.29. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $382.04 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

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.