Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 5,058,826 Shares of CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC sold 5,058,826 shares of CarMax, reducing its holdings by 76.7%, and now owns approximately 1.01% of the company, valued at $119.7 million.
• Several institutional investors, including AQR Capital Management, increased their stakes in CarMax, with AQR raising its holdings by 82.9% in the fourth quarter.
• CarMax's quarterly earnings report showed a profit of $1.38 per share, exceeding estimates, although revenue of $7.55 billion was below analysts' expectations.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX - Free Report) by 76.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,536,241 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,058,826 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 1.01% of CarMax worth $119,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMX. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CarMax by 82.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,012 shares of the company's stock worth $114,465,000 after purchasing an additional 634,390 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CarMax by 8,675.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 515,830 shares of the company's stock worth $40,193,000 after purchasing an additional 509,952 shares in the last quarter. ThornTree Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of CarMax in the 4th quarter worth $35,612,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of CarMax in the 1st quarter worth $33,872,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CarMax in the 4th quarter worth $31,061,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jon G. Daniels sold 1,540 shares of CarMax stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total value of $108,785.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,779 shares in the company, valued at $196,308.56. The trade was a 35.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded CarMax from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on CarMax in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of CarMax from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Benchmark began coverage on shares of CarMax in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CarMax from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.75.

CarMax Stock Performance

NYSE:KMX opened at $58.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $63.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.29. CarMax, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.53 and a twelve month high of $91.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

CarMax (NYSE:KMX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.58 billion. CarMax had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CarMax, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

CarMax Company Profile

CarMax, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles and related products in the United States. It operates in two segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The CarMax Sales Operations segment offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; used vehicle auctions; extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale; and reconditioning and vehicle repair services.

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