Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 41 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,070 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 6,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,021,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 94.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 26.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,317,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 81.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $525.67.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $447.00 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $496.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $382.04 and a 12-month high of $561.08. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total transaction of $360,491.07. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,476.19. This trade represents a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.