Insider Selling: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Sells 517 Shares of Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Keith Emery sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $3.24 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $564.92. The company had a trading volume of 245,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 352,156. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The company has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $436.25. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $609.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.