Barclays PLC Cuts Position in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Barclays PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 20.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,695 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,388 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.26% of AutoNation worth $20,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AN. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter worth about $1,140,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,401,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in AutoNation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,024,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AutoNation by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 2,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in AutoNation by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 66,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,546,000 after buying an additional 22,664 shares in the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $190.40 on Thursday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.33 and a 52-week high of $228.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $206.13 and a 200-day moving average of $209.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.84.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.69% and a net margin of 2.35%.AutoNation’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.97 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc is the largest automotive retailer in the United States, operating a network of franchised new vehicle dealerships, pre-owned vehicle superstores and collision-repair centers. The company offers a comprehensive range of automotive products and services, including the sale of new cars and light trucks from leading manufacturers, certified pre-owned vehicles and a wide selection of used models. In addition to retail vehicle sales, AutoNation provides financing, insurance and extended service contracts through its in-house financial services division, as well as genuine and aftermarket parts, factory-recommended maintenance and collision-repair services.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H.