O'Reilly Auto execs sell nearly $27M in shares

Greg Henslee nets $14 million in trading on Aug. 3.

Three executives of O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) started the month by selling tens of millions of dollars in shares.

Greg Henslee, board chair, sold the most shares of the transactions occurring Aug. 3. All three officers utilized U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission transaction code M, through which executives can buy awarded shares at set rates and sell them later at market prices.

In all, the three executives sold 51,130 shares for a total of $26.6 million, according to SEC filings.

The trades, by value, were conducted by the following:
• Henslee, who sold 26,346 shares for $14 million;
• Thomas McFall, chief financial officer and executive vice president, who sold 19,784 shares for $10.3 million; and
• Jonathan Andrews, senior vice president of human resources and training, who sold 5,000 shares for $2.3 million.

O’Reilly Automotive late last month reported a 10.2% increase in second- quarter earnings to $585.5 million on revenue of $3.5 billion, a 12.1% jump.

The company's stock crossed the $600 mark for the first time in company history on July 16. As of 10:53 a.m., ORLY shares were trading at $602.54, compared with a 52-week range of $424.03 to $621.73 per share.