AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Major Shareholder Edward S. Lampert Sells 55,914 Shares

Edward S. Lampert, a major shareholder, sold 55,914 of the company stock on Tuesday, May 30, in a deal. The shares were bought at an average price $140.76, resulting in a transaction totaling $7,870.454.64. The insider owns approximately $723.961,336.32 worth of shares after the transaction. Major shareholders who own at least 10% in a company are required to report their sales and purchase with the SEC.

AutoNation Stock Performance

The stock rose $0.64 to $131.56 during the midday session on Thursday. The stock was traded at 475,138 shares, as opposed to the average of 712,540. AutoNation, Inc.'s twelve-month low is $94.92 and its twelve-month high is $158.30. The company has a $6.00 billion market cap, a P/E ratio of 5.35, and a beta value of 1.08. The company's quick ratio is 0.25, its current ratio is 0.83 and its debt-to equity ratio is 1.91. The company released its last quarterly results on April 20th. The company's earnings per share for the first quarter were $6.07. This was $0.47 higher than analysts' expectations of $5.60. AutoNation's net margin was 4.90%, and its return on equity was 61.01%. The company had a revenue of $6.40billion for the quarter compared with analysts' expectations of a $6.63billion. In the same quarter of last year, the firm earned $5.78 per share. Revenue for the firm was down 5.2% from the same period last year. Analysts expect AutoNation, Inc. to post 21.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal.

AutoNation: Institutional investors weigh in

AN has seen a number of institutional investors increase or decrease their stakes. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AutoNation during the first quarter by 2.6%. Vanguard Group Inc. owns 4,820 370 shares worth $480 012,000, after buying an additional 123 772 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in AutoNation during the third quarter by 14.8%. BlackRock Inc. owns 4,051,225 of the company’s stock, worth $412,698,000, after buying an additional 522 990 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in AutoNation from 29.0% to $412,698,000 during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owns 1,505 122 shares worth $149 880,000, after buying an additional 338 288 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in AutoNation during the first quarter by 6.3%. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owns 1,186 479 shares worth $159 415,000, after buying an additional 70 224 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in AutoNation during the third quarter by 2.9%. State Street Corp owns now 1,154,274 of the company’s stock valued at $117,586,000, after purchasing 32,750 additional shares during the previous quarter. Institutional investors and hedge fund own 86.31% the company's shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

In a report published on Thursday 18th May, a new coverage was begun on AutoNation shares. They gave the stock a rating of 'buy.' Guggenheim raised their price target for shares of AutoNation to $184.00 in a Monday, April 17th report. They also gave the stock a "buy" rating. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target for shares of AutoNation in a report published on Friday, April 21, from $135.00 up to $145.00 and gave the stock a 'equal-weight' rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of AutoNation's rating from a neutral' to an underweight' and raised the price target for the stock to $130.00. This was in a research report published on February 21st. Two analysts have assigned the stock a sell recommendation, one a hold recommendation and five have given the stock a buy recommendation. MarketBeat.com data shows that the consensus rating for the stock is 'Hold.' The average price target is $153.14.

About AutoNation

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AutoNation, Inc is a provider of automotive products and service. It is divided into four segments: Corporate & Other, Corporate & Other, and Import. The Domestic segment consists of retail automotive franchises which sell new vehicles made by General Motors Ford and Stellantis.

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