Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Director Sells $55,909.00 in Stock

Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $55,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,659 shares in the company, valued at $277,291. This represents a 16.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Atlanticus Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ATLC stock opened at $50.70 on Wednesday. Atlanticus Holdings Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.09 and a fifty-two week high of $51.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $747.32 million, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $351.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 25.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Atlanticus Holdings Co. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Atlanticus by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 8,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 5.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Atlanticus by 65.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 393.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 14.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATLC has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research increased their target price 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. Stephens began coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Atlanticus from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

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.