Investment House LLC Decreases Stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Investment House LLC lessened its stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,784 shares during the quarter. Investment House LLC’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $5,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 19,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after acquiring an additional 8,579 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 18,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 4th quarter worth about $172,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AN. Morgan Stanley raised AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AutoNation from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoNation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.00.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AN traded down $3.06 during trading on Monday, reaching $166.82. The company had a trading volume of 218,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,138. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $154.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.91. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.81 and a fifty-two week high of $182.08.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.04. AutoNation had a return on equity of 43.48% and a net margin of 3.41%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AutoNation

In related news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 3,671 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.67, for a total value of $549,438.57. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,182 shares in the company, valued at $925,259.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $16,126,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,167,270 shares in the company, valued at $672,013,960.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.67, for a total value of $549,438.57. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,259.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 121,279 shares of company stock worth $19,361,962 over the last three months. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and parts and services, such as automotive repair and maintenance, and wholesale parts and collision services.