Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,550 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 21,042 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Murphy USA worth $7,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 24.0% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $200,000,000 after acquiring an additional 95,259 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $181,732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 3,650.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,573,000 after buying an additional 176,036 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MUSA. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $457.50.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $410.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $523.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $411.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $393.02.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.38%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total transaction of $343,894.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,833 shares of company stock worth $6,154,491. Corporate insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.