Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Purchases 86 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 28.1% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 155 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Covington Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 85.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total value of $156,183.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,129.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 550 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total value of $156,183.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $816,129.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.72, for a total transaction of $298,549.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,661 shares in the company, valued at $1,849,892.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,628 shares of company stock worth $455,611. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $325.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.60.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.1 %

MUSA stock opened at $285.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.39 and a 12 month high of $323.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.95 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 86.87%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 19.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.67%.

Murphy USA Profile

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Murphy USA, Inc engages in marketing motor fuel products and convenience merchandise through retail stores, namely Murphy USA and Murphy Express. It collaborates with Walmart to offer customers discounted and free items based on purchases of qualifying fuel and merchandise. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, AR.