ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Takes $206,000 Position in O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 174 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 29,964 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,507,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $21,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,193 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $40,349,000 after purchasing an additional 6,418 shares during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 302,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $319,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in O’Reilly Automotive by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,597 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,568,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. 85.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of O’Reilly Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $1,150.00 to $1,450.00 in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of O’Reilly Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,088.00 to $1,110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,115.00 to $1,286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of O’Reilly Automotive to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $1,289.44.

Insider Activity at O’Reilly Automotive

In other O’Reilly Automotive news, Director Andrea Weiss sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,224.07, for a total value of $734,442.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $856,849. This trade represents a 46.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeffery Thomas Loafman sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,240.39, for a total transaction of $769,041.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,201.95. This represents a 99.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

O’Reilly Automotive Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:ORLY opened at $1,241.08 on Wednesday. O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $947.49 and a 52 week high of $1,283.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,223.49 and a 200 day moving average of $1,164.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.94.

O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $11.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.53 by ($0.12). O’Reilly Automotive had a net margin of 14.52% and a negative return on equity of 155.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. will post 40.85 EPS for the current year.

O’Reilly Automotive Profile

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.