AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Holdings Cut by Shufro Rose & Co. LLC

Key Points

• Shufro Rose & Co. LLC reduced its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. by 8.4% during the first quarter, now owning 1,860 shares valued at approximately $7.09 million.
• Several major investors, including Tradewinds Capital Management LLC and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, have recently bought or increased their stakes in AutoZone, indicating strong institutional interest.
• AutoZone reported $35.36 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates and showing a 5.4% year-over-year revenue increase despite a negative return on equity of 56.07%.

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC lowered its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $7,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 14 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 price objective (up previously from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,761.87 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,898.57 and a twelve month high of $3,919.50. The stock has a market cap of $63.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $3,707.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,610.63.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $36.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This represents a 64.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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