Quadrature Capital Ltd Sells 10,430 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Quadrature Capital Ltd reduced its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 41.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,668 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 10,430 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $6,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after purchasing an additional 269,159 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at $81,560,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 194,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 128,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,709,000 after acquiring an additional 17,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the business’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the business’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total value of $374,692.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,818,436.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,451 shares of company stock worth $5,032,498 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.83.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $8.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $510.25. 206,925 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,935. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.87. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $282.49 and a 1-year high of $520.00. The company has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $467.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.96.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97). Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.45% and a net margin of 2.43%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.80 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.39%.

Murphy USA 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.