Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report) by 54.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,172 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,813 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in AutoNation were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners increased its stake in AutoNation by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,814,228 shares of the company's stock worth $309,312,000 after purchasing an additional 203,335 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in AutoNation by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 854,034 shares of the company's stock worth $152,804,000 after buying an additional 19,037 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 851,870 shares of the company's stock worth $144,682,000 after buying an additional 160,794 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AutoNation by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 435,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,965,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,165 shares of the company's stock worth $55,566,000 after acquiring an additional 6,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms recently issued reports on AN. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AutoNation in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoNation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoNation currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.86.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AutoNation
AutoNation Stock Performance
NYSE AN traded down $9.90 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $163.41. The company had a trading volume of 166,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,802. The business has a 50 day moving average of $175.07 and a 200-day moving average of $173.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.74. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.33 and a 1-year high of $198.50. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.15.
AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.71. AutoNation had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.59%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.
About AutoNation
(
Free Report)
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.
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