Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Has $10.98 Million Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 19.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the period. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $10,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,243,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $50,726,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Murphy USA by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $128,511,000 after buying an additional 99,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 1,785.1% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,211 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,037,000 after buying an additional 76,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,838. This trade represents a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $585.11.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $613.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $636.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $566.52 and a 200-day moving average of $499.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.85%.

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.