State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stock Position in OPENLANE, Inc. $KAR

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,045 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,339 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.08% of OPENLANE worth $2,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 77.6% during the second quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 1,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 29.0% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 19.8% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth $75,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 34.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the period. 99.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OPENLANE Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE:KAR opened at $26.23 on Thursday. OPENLANE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.79 and a twelve month high of $30.93. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.95.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.09. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 8.18%.The business had revenue of $481.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on KAR shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of OPENLANE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of OPENLANE from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of OPENLANE from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of OPENLANE from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on OPENLANE from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total value of $1,658,313.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,667.78. The trade was a 52.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total value of $5,436,425.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,616.94. The trade was a 84.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.51% of the company’s stock.

OPENLANE 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.