State Street Corp increased its stake in KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE:KAR) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,553,249 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,409 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 1.13% of KAR Auction Services worth $59,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of KAR Auction Services by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Ngam Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of KAR Auction Services by 0.3% in the first quarter. Ngam Advisors L.P. now owns 336,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,820,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of KAR Auction Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 114,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,257,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the period. Suntrust Banks Inc. raised its stake in shares of KAR Auction Services by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Suntrust Banks Inc. now owns 34,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 2,556 shares during the period. Finally, Aperio Group LLC raised its stake in shares of KAR Auction Services by 33.0% in the first quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 11,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 2,781 shares during the period.
Shares of KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE:KAR) traded up 0.30% during trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.36. 2,015,810 shares of the stock were exchanged. KAR Auction Services Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.54 and a 52 week high of $43.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion and a P/E ratio of 27.64.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 20th.
A number of equities analysts have commented on KAR shares. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of KAR Auction Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 6th. Sterne Agee CRT restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of KAR Auction Services in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of KAR Auction Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 14th. Jefferies Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of KAR Auction Services in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of KAR Auction Services in a research report on Wednesday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $42.17.
In other news, CEO Hilaire Stephane St. sold 59,355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total transaction of $2,345,709.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas J. Caruso sold 48,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.14, for a total value of $2,010,100.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,886.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
KAR Auction Services, Inc is a provider of vehicle auction services in North America. We operate as three reportable business segments: ADESA, Inc (ADESA Auctions), Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc (IAA) and Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC). ADESA Auctions is a provider of whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry in North America.
