Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 3,958 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,958 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of AutoNation worth $6,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AN. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AutoNation in the first quarter valued at $36,060,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,261,000 after buying an additional 219,474 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,964,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,749,000 after acquiring an additional 149,959 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 253.0% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 172,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,257,000 after acquiring an additional 123,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 276,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,936,000 after acquiring an additional 82,536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AN. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AutoNation from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AutoNation from $209.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of AutoNation from $230.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.25.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of AN stock opened at $220.04 on Wednesday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.33 and a 52 week high of $224.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $5.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 2.31%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.