New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,704 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $15,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 4,224 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 21,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at $896,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at $878,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at $537,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,008,649 shares in the company, valued at $453,211,473.87. This represents a 0.00 % 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. In other news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total value of $113,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at $12,911,548.12. This represents a 0.00 % 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. Also, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total transaction of $1,884,687.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,008,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,211,473.87. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

ABG opened at $242.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.16. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.09 and a 52-week high of $277.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.09.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.58 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.16% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

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.