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 trimmed its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,277 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth about $2,539,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,991,000 after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $530.02 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $496.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.75. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.