Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Aigen Investment Management LP

Aigen Investment Management LP lowered its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 34.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,075 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $527.97 on Thursday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $350.55 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.79.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.