Xponance Inc. Has $577,000 Stock Holdings in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,839 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prosperitas Financial LLC raised its position in AutoNation by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 10,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in AutoNation during the fourth quarter valued at $1,096,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AutoNation during the fourth quarter valued at $255,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation during the fourth quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation during the fourth quarter valued at $9,247,000. 94.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AutoNation

In other news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.67, for a total transaction of $549,438.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,259.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 3,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.67, for a total transaction of $549,438.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,259.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 10,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.56, for a total value of $1,669,866.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,267,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,640,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 121,279 shares of company stock worth $19,361,962. 0.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AutoNation from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on AutoNation in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.00.

AutoNation Stock Performance

AN opened at $169.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $153.76 and a 200-day moving average of $144.64. AutoNation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.81 and a 52-week high of $182.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $4.49. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.49 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 48.76% and a net margin of 3.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation Company Profile

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.