Nuveen Asset Management LLC Purchases 480,804 Shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) by 148.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 805,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 480,804 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.75% of OPENLANE worth $15,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KAR. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of OPENLANE during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 414.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,182 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 435.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of OPENLANE during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,314 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

OPENLANE Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:KAR opened at $22.11 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.23. OPENLANE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.44 and a 12 month high of $22.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.07. OPENLANE had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $460.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.70 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KAR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens raised shares of OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of OPENLANE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total value of $152,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,511 shares in the company, valued at $793,018.92. This trade represents a 16.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

OPENLANE Company Profile

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.