Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd Cuts Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd trimmed its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 92.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 12,700 shares during the quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. This represents a 25.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA traded down $0.52 on Tuesday, hitting $458.07. The stock had a trading volume of 49,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,611. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $474.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $493.01. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 0.59. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $424.02 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MUSA. Raymond James cut shares of Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $526.29.

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.