AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $4,054.52.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $3,700.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total transaction of $482,810.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,430,682.24. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,940. This represents a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZO. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AutoZone Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of AZO traded up $79.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3,775.03. The stock had a trading volume of 104,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,057. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,694.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,457.18. AutoZone has a one year low of $2,728.97 and a one year high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market cap of $63.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $36.69 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone Company 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.