Insider Selling: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Sells 158 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Murphy USA SVP Scott Woodward sold 158 shares on May 5 at an average price of $600.50 for $94,879, trimming his stake by 24.92% to 476 shares.
• Quarterly beat: The company reported Q1 EPS of $7.28 (vs. $5.37 est.) and revenue of $4.82B (vs. $4.70B est.), with revenue up 6.5% year-over-year and ROE of 91.05%.
• Market and analyst view: MUSA trades near its 52-week high (about $609.82) with a $10.65B market cap, and Wall Street shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target of $503.71.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) SVP Scott Woodward sold 158 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock traded down $28.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $575.87. The stock had a trading volume of 369,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,227. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.14. The stock has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $609.82.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 30.08 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $164,940,000 after purchasing an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $204,753,000 after buying an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $69,243,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,726,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $53,446,000 after acquiring an additional 125,185 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MUSA shares. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.71.

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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