State Street Corp Acquires 27,501 Shares of Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM)

State Street Corp boosted its position in Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM - Free Report) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,382,468 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,501 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 1.14% of Autohome worth $45,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Autohome by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 37,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Autohome during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 23.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,098 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Autohome by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,938 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Autohome by 93.9% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,397 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 2,614 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ATHM. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Autohome to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised Autohome to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Autohome from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, CLSA cut shares of Autohome from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Autohome Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATHM traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $26.36. 1,045,737 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 482,185. Autohome Inc. has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $34.70. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.38 and a 200 day moving average of $27.50.

Autohome Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Autohome's previous Variable dividend of $0.57. Autohome's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Autohome declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 4th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Autohome

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People's Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.