Eric Bartko Sells 345 Shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Eric Bartko sold 345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $22.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $407.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 540,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,425. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $523.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $413.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $391.91.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.38%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 318.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 3,650.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,573,000 after purchasing an additional 176,036 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,446,000 after purchasing an additional 125,185 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 target price on Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $457.50.

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.