930 Shares in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Purchased by Seven Eight Capital LP

Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABG. AXS Investments LLC purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 100.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 292 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $155,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $162,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total transaction of $1,884,687.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,008,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,211,473.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total value of $113,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at $12,911,548.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,008,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,211,473.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABG. Stephens started coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com lowered Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.25.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

NYSE:ABG opened at $227.95 on Tuesday. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $178.40 and a 52 week high of $277.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $236.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $6.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.31 by ($0.91). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.99 EPS for the current year.

Asbury Automotive Group Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.