Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Shares Sold by Eventide Asset Management LLC

Eventide Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 214,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,808 shares during the period. Lithia Motors comprises about 1.2% of Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Eventide Asset Management LLC owned 0.81% of Lithia Motors worth $68,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Lithia Motors by 1.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $975,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 459 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.0% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This represents a 23.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294 over the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of LAD stock opened at $386.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $338.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.90. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.24%.

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.