Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its ownership in Murphy USA Inc. by 5.6%, currently holding 1,759,492 shares valued at approximately $826.63 million.
• The company's stock price opened at $379.26, with a market capitalization of $7.32 billion and a PE ratio of 15.70.
• Despite reporting quarterly earnings per share of $7.36, which exceeded estimates, Murphy USA's revenue fell short of expectations, with an 8.2% decline year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,759,492 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 104,913 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.89% of Murphy USA worth $826,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MUSA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 53,469.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,231,000 after acquiring an additional 552,872 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,777,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 61.5% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $118,662,000 after acquiring an additional 96,200 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Murphy USA by 363.2% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 54,471 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $27,331,000 after buying an additional 42,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Murphy USA by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,247 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $106,495,000 after buying an additional 41,295 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,337,979.58. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $476.29.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock traded up $4.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $393.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 177,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,033. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $406.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 0.42.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.92 earnings per share. Murphy USA's quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

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.