Lisa Lutoff-Perlo Sells 900 Shares of AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Stock

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $198,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,989 shares in the company, valued at $1,757,580. This represents a 10.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

AutoNation Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of AN opened at $209.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.20. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.62 and a 1-year high of $235.81. The stock has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.49.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.24% and a net margin of 2.82%.AutoNation’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoNation

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 192,434.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,424,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,557,000 after acquiring an additional 4,422,133 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the second quarter worth approximately $438,689,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AutoNation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,319,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in AutoNation by 260.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 333,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,064,000 after purchasing an additional 241,265 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in AutoNation by 51.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 631,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,439,000 after purchasing an additional 215,577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 price objective on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $287.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.36.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc is the largest automotive retailer in the United States, operating a network of franchised new vehicle dealerships, pre-owned vehicle superstores and collision-repair centers. The company offers a comprehensive range of automotive products and services, including the sale of new cars and light trucks from leading manufacturers, certified pre-owned vehicles and a wide selection of used models. In addition to retail vehicle sales, AutoNation provides financing, insurance and extended service contracts through its in-house financial services division, as well as genuine and aftermarket parts, factory-recommended maintenance and collision-repair services.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H.