Kimberly Dees Sells 2,500 Shares of AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Stock

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) CAO Kimberly Dees sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.91, for a total value of $512,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,348.96. The trade was a 63.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

AutoNation Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE AN opened at $205.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.25 and a 12 month high of $228.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.34 and a 200-day moving average of $203.44.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.71 by ($0.02). AutoNation had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoNation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 4.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,478,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,784,000 after acquiring an additional 56,641 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in AutoNation by 10.5% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 58,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,404,000 after purchasing an additional 5,572 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in AutoNation by 33.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 306 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in AutoNation by 13.6% in the first quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 26,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in AutoNation in the first quarter worth $2,307,000. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America began coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AutoNation from $207.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.33.

AutoNation Company Profile

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.