Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases New Holdings in Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC)

Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 47,157 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,654,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Atlanticus by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 8,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Atlanticus by 5.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Atlanticus by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 158.8% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the period. 14.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $55,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,659 shares in the company, valued at $277,291. This represents a 16.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mitchell Saunders sold 16,004 shares of Atlanticus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total value of $889,022.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,831,550.15. This represents a 23.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,504 shares of company stock worth $962,522. 51.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on ATLC shares. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Atlanticus from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research upped their price target 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 lifted their price objective on Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atlanticus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.20.

Atlanticus Stock Down 3.5 %

Atlanticus stock opened at $56.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $834.82 million, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 2.05. Atlanticus Holdings Co. has a 1-year low of $23.09 and a 1-year high of $64.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $351.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Atlanticus Holdings Co. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlanticus Company Profile

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.