AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Position Decreased by Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC

Key Points

• Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its holdings in AutoZone by 5.0%, now owning 1,975 shares valued at approximately $7.53 million, making it the firm's third largest position.
• Several analysts recently upgraded their price targets for AutoZone, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target from $3,830 to $4,350, while others set targets ranging from $4,200 to $4,850.
• AutoZone reported a quarterly earnings miss with earnings per share of $35.36, falling short of the consensus estimate of $37.07, despite a revenue increase of 5.4% year-over-year.

Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC lowered its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,975 shares of the company's stock after selling 104 shares during the period. AutoZone makes up 4.9% of Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $7,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,936,535,000 after acquiring an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at about $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after acquiring an additional 65,368 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 204,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,603,000 after acquiring an additional 36,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on 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 price objective on AutoZone and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $4,000.00 price objective (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,101.29.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $4,128.6070 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,898.57 and a fifty-two week high of $4,187.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,800.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,686.55. The stock has a market cap of $69.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%.The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $36.69 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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