Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stake in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in OPENLANE were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KAR. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the fourth quarter worth $15,793,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in OPENLANE in the 4th quarter worth $7,007,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the 4th quarter worth about $5,822,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in OPENLANE during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,115,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 306,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,072,000 after purchasing an additional 166,536 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

OPENLANE Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KAR opened at $18.33 on Friday. OPENLANE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.44 and a 12-month high of $22.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 34.58, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $455.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.64 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 9.20%. Equities research analysts predict that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KAR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. 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. Stephens raised shares of OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of OPENLANE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.75.

About OPENLANE

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.