Utah Retirement Systems Sells 100 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Utah Retirement Systems lowered its position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in AutoNation were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of AutoNation in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 202.5% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 101.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 9.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of 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 report on Tuesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoNation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AutoNation from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $169.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.38.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $131.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $128.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.42, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.11. AutoNation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.92 and a 52 week high of $158.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.92.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 17th. The company reported $6.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $0.48. AutoNation had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 62.12%. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 20.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.82, for a total value of $13,102,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,878,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,225,040.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP C Coleman Edmunds sold 9,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total value of $1,323,338.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,904,655.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.82, for a total transaction of $13,102,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,878,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $616,225,040.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 437,098 shares of company stock valued at $54,584,862 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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.