D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 229 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,154 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LAD. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Lithia Motors by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LAD. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $345.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $360.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.61. The stock has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. As a group, analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total value of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,049.40. The trade was a 13.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction of $126,054.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,786.90. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.