Foster & Motley Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,447 AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the third quarter worth approximately $969,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 18.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 9.9% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2.5% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 4.7% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Stock Up 0.6 %

AutoNation stock opened at $160.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.24. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.81 and a fifty-two week high of $182.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.53.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $5.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.85 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 48.76% and a net margin of 3.79%. AutoNation’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoNation

In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $16,126,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,167,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $672,013,960.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $16,126,000.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 3,133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $477,093.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 464 shares in the company, valued at $70,657.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,279 shares of company stock valued at $19,361,962. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on AutoNation in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.00.

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.