Insider Selling: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Major Shareholder Sells 8,353 Shares of Stock

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total transaction of $1,884,687.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,008,649 shares in the company, valued at $453,211,473.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 0.7 %

ABG stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $230.34. 96,586 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 171,720. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $236.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.28. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $178.40 and a 1 year high of $277.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.16.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $6.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.31 by ($0.91). The company had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 20.12%. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 29.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Oak Associates Ltd. OH raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 3,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 24,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,819,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 3,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ABG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 10th.

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.