Short Interest in O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) Decreases By 19.3%

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 935,900 shares, a drop of 19.3% from the October 15th total of 1,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 324,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ORLY shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,100.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,204.00 to $1,290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $986.00 to $1,088.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on O’Reilly Automotive from $1,300.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on O’Reilly Automotive from $1,250.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, O’Reilly Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,242.13.

Insider Activity

In other O’Reilly Automotive news, Chairman David E. Oreilly sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,118.88, for a total transaction of $1,118,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 183,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,407,347.04. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence P. Oreilly sold 13,765 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,119.52, for a total value of $15,410,192.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 141,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,511,717.28. The trade was a 8.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,322 shares of company stock worth $18,280,698 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On O’Reilly Automotive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in O’Reilly Automotive by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,479,166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,700,513,000 after acquiring an additional 24,135 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in O’Reilly Automotive by 14.7% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,175 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of O’Reilly Automotive during the third quarter worth about $441,000. Marshfield Associates boosted its stake in shares of O’Reilly Automotive by 0.4% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 304,133 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $350,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of O’Reilly Automotive by 4.6% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 248 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.00% of the company’s stock.

O’Reilly Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ORLY traded down $11.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,213.37. 437,650 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 375,309. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. O’Reilly Automotive has a 52-week low of $914.50 and a 52-week high of $1,255.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,170.83 and its 200-day moving average is $1,094.28.

O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $11.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.53 by ($0.12). O’Reilly Automotive had a negative return on equity of 155.25% and a net margin of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.72 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that O’Reilly Automotive will post 40.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.