Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 192,434.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,424,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,422,133 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in AutoNation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,319,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in AutoNation by 260.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 333,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,064,000 after buying an additional 241,265 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AutoNation by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 631,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,439,000 after buying an additional 215,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in AutoNation by 444.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 119,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,605,000 after acquiring an additional 97,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoNation news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $198,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,757,580. This trade represents a 10.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens increased their target price on AutoNation from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AutoNation from $287.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AutoNation from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $248.00 target price on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AutoNation from $202.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.00.

AutoNation Stock Down 2.1%

AN opened at $204.93 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $200.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.18. AutoNation, Inc. has a one year low of $176.62 and a one year high of $235.81.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.48 by $0.08. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 31.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc is the largest automotive retailer in the United States, operating a network of franchised new vehicle dealerships, pre-owned vehicle superstores and collision-repair centers. The company offers a comprehensive range of automotive products and services, including the sale of new cars and light trucks from leading manufacturers, certified pre-owned vehicles and a wide selection of used models. In addition to retail vehicle sales, AutoNation provides financing, insurance and extended service contracts through its in-house financial services division, as well as genuine and aftermarket parts, factory-recommended maintenance and collision-repair services.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H.