Mark Joseph Merz Sells 500 Shares of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) Stock

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) SVP Mark Joseph Merz sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,325.00, for a total transaction of $662,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,375. This represents a 64.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

O’Reilly Automotive Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ORLY opened at $1,318.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.94. O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $947.49 and a 52 week high of $1,350.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,248.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,194.23.

O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $9.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.73 by $0.23. O’Reilly Automotive had a net margin of 14.28% and a negative return on equity of 166.88%. Analysts expect that O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. will post 44.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,163,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,122,607,000 after buying an additional 17,325 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 73.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,725,316 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,986,874,000 after buying an additional 728,040 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,479,166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,700,513,000 after buying an additional 24,135 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,443,540 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,711,750,000 after buying an additional 11,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 99,957.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 854,487 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $984,027,000 after buying an additional 853,633 shares in the last quarter. 85.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,416.00 to $1,453.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,400.00 to $1,535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,300.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,305.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,450.00 to $1,525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, O’Reilly Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $1,390.81.

About O’Reilly Automotive

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer and supplier of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. The company provides new and remanufactured automotive hard parts and maintenance items, such as alternators, batteries, brake system components, belts, chassis parts, driveline parts, engine parts, fuel pumps, hoses, starters, temperature control, water pumps, antifreeze, appearance products, engine additives, filters, fluids, lighting products, and oil and wiper blades; and accessories, including floor mats, seat covers, and truck accessories.