Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC reduced its Murphy USA stake by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 175,320 shares and leaving it with 560,625 shares worth about $226.2 million.
• Murphy USA reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $7.28 versus the $5.37 estimate and revenue of $4.82 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.64 from $0.63.
• Sentiment remains mixed: several analysts have raised targets or ratings, but the stock’s consensus view is only Moderate Buy with an average price target of $515.14, below the recent share price of $573.36.

Millennium Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 560,625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 175,320 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 3.02% of Murphy USA worth $226,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Man Group plc lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 6,423 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,432 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,208 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 47,601 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $19,208,000 after purchasing an additional 18,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $312,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $573.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $544.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.11.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Murphy USA from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upped their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.14.

About Murphy USA

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.

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