Mitchell Saunders Sells 16,004 Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Stock

Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) CAO Mitchell Saunders sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total transaction of $889,022.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,831,550.15. The trade was a 23.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Atlanticus Stock Performance

Atlanticus stock opened at $55.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Atlanticus Holdings Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.09 and a fifty-two week high of $56.42. The company has a market capitalization of $813.06 million, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 1.92.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.04. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 25.14%. The firm had revenue of $351.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.64 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Atlanticus Holdings Co. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlanticus

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Atlanticus by 393.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Atlanticus by 65.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Atlanticus by 158.8% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Atlanticus by 9.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Atlanticus by 285.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,218 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,087 shares during the last quarter. 14.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATLC. StockNews.com raised shares of Atlanticus from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atlanticus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

About Atlanticus

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, a financial technology company, provides credit and related financial services and products to customers the United States. It operates in two segments, Credit as a Service, and Auto Finance. The Credit as a Service segment originates a range of consumer loan products, such as private label and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through various channels, including retail and healthcare, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing, and partnerships with third parties; and offers credit to their customers for the purchase of various goods and services, including consumer electronics, furniture, elective medical procedures, healthcare, and home-improvements by partnering with retailers, healthcare providers, and other service providers.