1248 Management LLC Purchases Shares of 410 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,313,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in AutoZone by 750.0% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 17 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE AZO traded up $19.09 on Monday, hitting $3,775.42. 105,299 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 131,944. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,728.97 and a 1-year high of $3,916.81. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $3,623.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,382.68.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. On average, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AZO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. DA Davidson upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer upgraded AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,814.91.

AutoZone Profile

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.