Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd cut its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 41.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,668 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 10,430 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd owned 0.07% of Murphy USA worth $6,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter worth $69,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $424,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Murphy USA by 10.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Murphy USA by 31.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 48,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,217,000 after acquiring an additional 11,428 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $1,064,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.83.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE MUSA traded up $8.71 on Friday, hitting $510.25. 206,925 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 169,935. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $467.04 and a 200 day moving average of $424.96. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $282.49 and a twelve month high of $520.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.97). Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 64.45%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.83 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, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.39%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,871,580.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $82,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total value of $4,575,805.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,871,580.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,451 shares of company stock worth $5,032,498 in the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.