O'Reilly Auto exec sells 2K shares

A senior vice president at Springfield-based O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) last week sold 2,000 shares of company stock on the open market.

Selling at an average price of $125.09 per share, the Nov. 12–13 transactions by Distribution SVP Gregory Johnson were valued at $250,180, according to an insider trading report by Nasdaq and Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Johnson now directly owns 3,670 shares of ORLY stock valued at approximately $459,080, the reports show.

According to the Nasdaq report, O’Reilly Auto executives have enacted nine insider trades representing more than 42,500 shares sold in the last three months and 69 market transactions moving more than 421,100 shares in the last 12 months. 

According to TickerReport.com, ORLY recently has been the subject of a few research reports.

Analysts at Raymond James downgraded shares of O’Reilly Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in an Oct. 24 research note to investors. On Oct. 21, UBS AG analysts raised their price target on O’Reilly shares to $150 from $132 apiece – and now have a “buy” rating on the stock – and analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on O’Reilly shares and now have a $141 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating, according to TickerReport.com. The company currently has an average rating of “hold” and a consensus price target of $126.57.

In the third quarter, O’Reilly beat analyst projections with earnings of $1.69 per share, up 37 cents from third-quarter 2012. Analysts predicted earnings of $1.65 a share, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The auto parts retailer recorded net income of $186.5 million the three months ending Sept. 30, 2013, a 17 percent boost compared to $159.3 million profits posted during the same quarter a year ago.

The company recorded a 52-week high of $135.62 on Oct. 17. As of 11:37 a.m., ORLY shares were trading at $124.89. The company's 52-week low is $87.06.