Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 9,445 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon trimmed its AutoNation stake by 4.5% in the first quarter, selling 9,445 shares and leaving it with 198,894 shares worth about $38.8 million.
• AutoNation’s latest quarterly results slightly missed Wall Street expectations, with EPS of $4.69 versus $4.71 expected and revenue of $6.55 billion versus $6.65 billion expected, while revenue fell 2.1% year over year.
• Despite mixed earnings, analysts remain generally positive: AutoNation has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $246.18, and several firms recently raised or reiterated bullish ratings.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,894 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,445 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.58% of AutoNation worth $38,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Activity

In other AutoNation news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.91, for a total transaction of $512,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,456 shares in the company, valued at $298,348.96. The trade was a 63.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AutoNation Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AN opened at $208.28 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $192.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.30. The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62. AutoNation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.62 and a twelve month high of $228.92.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.71 by ($0.02). AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 2.47%.The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.68 earnings per share. AutoNation's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.41 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AN has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $208.00 to $202.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research raised shares of AutoNation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of AutoNation in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded AutoNation from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $246.18.

AutoNation Profile

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.

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