Invesco Ltd. Has $236.13 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 470,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 18,097 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 2.32% of Murphy USA worth $236,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $935,465,000 after buying an additional 54,658 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,783,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $895,046,000 after acquiring an additional 32,643 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,667,000 after purchasing an additional 33,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 284,564 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $142,780,000 after purchasing an additional 16,954 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $539.00.

Murphy USA Stock Up 6.7 %

NYSE:MUSA opened at $514.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $468.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.49. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $382.04 and a 52-week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. The trade was a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is currently 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.