California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 15,973 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 18.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,973 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.37% of Murphy USA worth $28,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1,925.0% during the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $49,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $474.00.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $386.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 0.40. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $556.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $377.08 and a 200 day moving average of $393.07.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $6,196,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,564,058.76. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.