Gladius Capital Management LP Makes New $33,000 Investment in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in AutoNation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoNation by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AutoNation from $153.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Guggenheim upped their price target on AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.63.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AN traded up $2.35 on Thursday, hitting $165.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 283,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $158.29 and a 200-day moving average of $146.54. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.81 and a 12-month high of $182.08. The company has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.22.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.04. AutoNation had a return on equity of 42.44% and a net margin of 3.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.05 EPS. AutoNation’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.73 EPS for the current year.

AutoNation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, April 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 10,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.56, for a total transaction of $1,669,866.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,267,860 shares in the company, valued at $659,640,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 10,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.56, for a total value of $1,669,866.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,267,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,640,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $16,126,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,167,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,013,960.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,279 shares of company stock valued at $21,041,962 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and parts and services, such as automotive repair and maintenance, and wholesale parts and collision services.