Origin Asset Management LLP decreased its stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,156 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. AutoNation accounts for about 0.1% of Origin Asset Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Origin Asset Management LLP's holdings in AutoNation were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in AutoNation by 202.5% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter worth about $83,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 101.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,038 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 9.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AN. StockNews.com downgraded AutoNation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AutoNation from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley downgraded AutoNation from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded AutoNation from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on AutoNation from $169.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 63,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $7,410,551.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,003,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,216,684.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 63,090 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Monday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $7,410,551.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,003,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,216,684.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 51,100 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $7,909,769.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,382,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,181,167.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 547,322 shares of company stock worth $67,189,590 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of AN traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $139.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 249,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,231. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.92 and a 1-year high of $158.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.72, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 17th. The company reported $6.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.52 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 62.12% and a net margin of 5.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AutoNation

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AutoNation, Inc engages in the provision of automotive products and services. It operates through the following segments: Domestic, Import, Premium Luxury, and Corporate & Other. The Domestic segment comprises retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.

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