12th Street Asset Management Company LLC Raises Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 18.8%, now owning approximately $35.95 million in shares, making AutoZone its 6th largest investment.
• Insider selling has increased, with VP Richard Craig Smith and CFO Jamere Jackson selling significant shares, resulting in sizeable decreases in their ownership stake.
• Analysts are optimistic about AutoZone's stock, with several raising their price targets, including DA Davidson who increased theirs from $4,192 to $4,850 and issued a "buy" rating.

12th Street Asset Management Company LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,430 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the quarter. AutoZone makes up 6.1% of 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC owned approximately 0.06% of AutoZone worth $35,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 435,031.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock worth $2,936,535,000 after purchasing an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,033,000 after acquiring an additional 77,015 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in AutoZone by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 204,748 shares of the company's stock worth $655,603,000 after acquiring an additional 36,916 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth $95,480,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 204,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,840,000 after purchasing an additional 26,036 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 8,546 shares in the company, valued at $31,696,515.78. This trade represents a 76.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of AutoZone stock traded up $89.99 on Friday, reaching $3,858.37. The stock had a trading volume of 104,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,330. The business's 50 day moving average is $3,707.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,617.83. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,898.57 and a 1 year high of $3,919.50. The company has a market cap of $64.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $36.69 earnings per share. AutoZone's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.