Citigroup Inc. Sells 205,011 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Citigroup Inc. decreased its position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) by 91.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 205,011 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $2,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,820,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,012,000 after purchasing an additional 123,772 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in AutoNation by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,051,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,698,000 after acquiring an additional 522,990 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in AutoNation by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,505,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,880,000 after buying an additional 338,288 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AutoNation by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,154,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,586,000 after purchasing an additional 32,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 4.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 908,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,466,000 after buying an additional 36,620 shares during the last quarter. 86.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 50,000 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.64, for a total transaction of $6,682,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,332,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $712,656,014.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 47,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.37, for a total value of $6,394,743.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,285,416 shares in the company, valued at $715,486,763.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.64, for a total value of $6,682,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,332,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,656,014.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,754 shares of company stock valued at $26,925,568 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Price Performance

AutoNation stock opened at $137.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.59, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $131.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.77. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.92 and a 1 year high of $158.30.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $6.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.47. AutoNation had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 61.01%. The company had revenue of $6.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AN. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AutoNation from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.14.

AutoNation Company Profile

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AutoNation, Inc engages in the provision of automotive products and services. It operates through the following segments: Domestic, Import, Premium Luxury, and Corporate & Other. The Domestic segment comprises retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.