Wells Fargo & Company Trims AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Target Price to $181.00

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $187.00 to $181.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AN. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AutoNation from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Stephens began coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an overweight rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoNation has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $200.38.

AutoNation Stock Performance

NYSE AN opened at $166.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.55. AutoNation has a 1 year low of $123.81 and a 1 year high of $197.18.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.31 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.72 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 36.50% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AutoNation will post 17.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 39,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.43, for a total transaction of $7,189,355.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,786,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,492,393.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 39,194 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.43, for a total transaction of $7,189,355.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,786,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,492,393.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 500 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.06, for a total transaction of $91,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,825,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,441,036.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,256 shares of company stock valued at $17,641,954. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoNation

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AN. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in AutoNation by 91.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after buying an additional 9,182 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in AutoNation during the fourth quarter worth $369,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda raised its stake in AutoNation by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 359.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in AutoNation by 398.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

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.