Graham Capital Management L.P. Boosts Stock Position in OPENLANE, Inc. $KAR

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management increased its holdings in OPENLANE, Inc. by 99.0% during the first quarter, owning 43,409 shares valued at $837,000 by quarter-end.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 99.76% of OPENLANE's stock, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Recent analyst ratings have improved for OPENLANE, with Barrington Research raising its price target to $30.00 and a consensus price target of $26.50 overall.

Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) by 99.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,409 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 21,597 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in OPENLANE were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in OPENLANE by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in OPENLANE by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in OPENLANE in the 1st quarter worth $75,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 34.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the period. 99.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OPENLANE news, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,667.78. This represents a 52.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total transaction of $5,436,425.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,616.94. This trade represents a 84.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

OPENLANE Price Performance

KAR traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $29.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,692,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 678,088. OPENLANE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.44 and a 52-week high of $30.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.38.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $481.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.26 million. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 8.18%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KAR shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Barrington Research upped their price target on OPENLANE from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on OPENLANE from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, OPENLANE presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.75.

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.