Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target to $550.00

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $555.00 to $550.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.80.

Murphy USA Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $478.80 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $506.94. Murphy USA has a 52 week low of $371.30 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The stock has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% 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.