Edward S. Lampert Sells 500 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Stock

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.06, for a total value of $91,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,825,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $696,441,036.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of AN stock traded down $3.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $179.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 161,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,769. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.81 and a fifty-two week high of $197.18. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.81.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.31 by ($0.32). AutoNation had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 36.50%. The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoNation

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AN. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 15,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,413,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 32,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,393,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim increased their target price on AutoNation from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AutoNation from $164.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on AutoNation from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AutoNation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AutoNation from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.71.

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.