Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 721 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 721 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of AutoNation worth $4,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AN. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in AutoNation in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AutoNation by 90.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 202 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in AutoNation during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in AutoNation by 79.7% during the 1st quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AN. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AutoNation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AutoNation from $164.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AutoNation from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on AutoNation from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on AutoNation in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoNation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,786,144 shares in the company, valued at $694,492,393.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 39,194 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.43, for a total transaction of $7,189,355.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,786,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,492,393.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 23,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.29, for a total transaction of $4,083,789.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,980,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,794,659.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 216,959 shares of company stock valued at $39,346,744. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AN stock opened at $178.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.14. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.81 and a 1-year high of $197.18. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.72 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 36.50% and a net margin of 2.93%. AutoNation’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.29 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 17.67 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.