1,539 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Bought by Optimize Financial Inc

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $200,000,000 after purchasing an additional 95,259 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,732,000 after buying an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the second quarter worth about $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 3,650.7% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,573,000 after acquiring an additional 176,036 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America began coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Murphy USA from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $434.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.38. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $523.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $413.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $393.32.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $9,431,434.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 131,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,963,381.92. The trade was a 15.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total value of $1,721,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722. 10.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.