State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 64 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,285 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Murphy USA by 942.9% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $530.02 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $496.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company 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.