AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Oppenheimer currently has $4,600.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $3,821.91.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.1 %

AZO stock traded up $2.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,749.26. The stock had a trading volume of 36,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 131,400. The stock's 50 day moving average is $3,636.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,389.32. AutoZone has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market cap of $62.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total value of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at $581,940. This represents a 96.79 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

About AutoZone

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.